History Before the X-Men
by TimeAndLife21
Summary: Renegade. Blaze. Azazel. Spade. These names were the first of the X-Men. But they called themselves The Elite. They had disappeared 13 years ago. When Xavier heard a mental scream from across America, he knew that The Elite were still alive. Besides Storm and Wolverine, the others were confused. They were sent to rescue them. So why do they look like...Slight AU High T Rating.
1. Chapter 1

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By TimeAndLife21

* * *

_It had been thirteen years. _Storm thought to herself as she woke up in the middle of the night of October 7th.

She sat up, placing her left hand onto her forehead pushing back a headache. She pushed back her long white hair before getting up and placing a dark blue terry robe on. Before she left her room, she gingerly grabbed an old photo, placed it into her pocket and went downstairs to the kitchen to have some tea for the headache. As she passed the empty halls with practiced stealth, the memories of her past came back to haunt her.

_"Ororo, if you come with me, I can take you to a place where you can learn to control your powers. I promise that my mentor will help you." _A sweet soprano voice went though her thoughts.

She stopped in the middle of the hallway as the memories rushed at the forefront of her mind. Her eyes glassed over with unshed tears. She took a few deep breaths to make sure that her powers don't affect the clear night sky outside the mansion.

She could remember the light blue eyes that stared at her with comfort and safety with a pale hand stretched out to her in kindness. Storm shook her head and walked into the kitchen. It was empty tonight. She thanked the Goddess above that no one could see her. She turned on the light and went over to the cupboards. She knew that her favored tea for tonight was on the top shelf where no one can reach it. She grabbed a chair and stood up on it. Opening the cupboard she reached for her desired tea. She felt her hands grasp a box and she took it out and got down from the chair, and placed it back. She started up the hot water in the coffee pot and placed the citrus strawberry white tea into the water. She leaned back onto the counter waiting patiently for the tea to be done.

Thirteen years… she could scarcely believe it has been that long. Since the Elite X-Men had disappeared off the radar. Every year has been the same. Charles would check Cerebro every month with an intense 4 hours session to find them. He hasn't had any luck.

The Elite consisted of 4 mutants.

Renegade.

Blaze.

Azazel.

Spade.

They were the Elite X-Men that disappeared on a mission thirteen years ago. They were hunting down a scientist that used mutants as expirements and was obsessed with their genetics. There were a lot of mutants at the time that disappeared off of the radar, and they wanted to stop the sinister man.

The coffee pot signaled that it was done making the tea and she poured it into her favored mug; a grey ceramic mug with an elegant handle and designs on it. She walked over to a table and took out the picture that she had put in her pocket earlier.

She placed it on the table where an empty vase was and propped it up. She could see the familiar faces.

Hellion.

Banshee.

Sway.

Dust.

Surge.

They were her fellow class members here at the institute. Hellion currently is working for SHEILD. Banshee was in Ireland with his daughter Theresa, working for Scotland Yard. Sway was on the west coast working with a sci-fi director of a new series that appeared on TV. Dust went back Afghanistan to help her fellow women (Human or Mutant) by saving them from slave rings and setting them free back to their families, all the while searching for her mother. Surge was currently working as an electrical engineer back in Japan. Her dear friends that disbanded after the disappearance of the 4 older First Class X-men, she missed them so. But she was glad that they have found a place in the world. She wished that she could only say the same for the others. She took a sip of her hot tea as she stared at the picture. She looked only at the 4 mutants on the last row in the picture.

"Oh." She heard a voice behind her.

Storm looked up and saw one of her students up. It was the young Mississippi woman.

Rouge.

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone was down here. I just saw the light on an thought it was Kurt drinking the milk again." The young woman said with a southern twang as she pushed back a strand of white hair behind her ear.

"It's fine, Rouge. I was just thinking about things." Storm said as she looked back at the picture.

It was then that she noticed something.

Renegade.

Renegade had dark brown hair with stripes of white in it. Same as Rouge. Storm shook her head. It was a coincidence.

"About what, Storm?" Rouge asked as she took a seat by her teacher.

She woke up from the psyches again. They were bugging her and she went downstairs to have a glass of water before going back to sleep when she saw Storm staring as a picture that she had. Storm looked so sad. Storm smiled at her sadly.

"I was thinking of my old mentor. You know, she was the one who brought me here when I was young. About 14 years old." She said as she passed the picture to Rogue.

Rogue looked at the picture and was surprised. She saw a young Storm by a woman with dark brown hair with white stripes running through it and light blue eyes, she wore white short sleeved shirt and blue jeans with a couple of silver and gold necklaces on her neck. But she paid more attention to the hair that Storm had.

"Your hair is ridiculous, Storm. It's huge." Rouge smiled at her teacher, pointing out the massive curly white hair that Storm had had when she was young.

"It was the style back then. Nowadays I straighten my hair. It looks nicer that way." Storm lightly joked.

Rouge smiled back and looked back at the picture. She saw a man next to the striped haired woman. He was tall and he looked really handsome. His hair was sunshine blone and his eyes were a piercing green. He was wearing dark clothing. Black jeans, black shirt, and a black trench coat. She noticed something on his belts.

"Storm, who's this man?" Rouge asked. Storm looked over and smiled.

"That man is Blaze. He is Renegade's husband." She said gently.

"What are those on his belt?" Rouge asked.

"Oh, Blaze's guns. He often had them on him a lot." Storm said.

Rouge wondered why that man was allowed to have guns on private property, but didn't question.

She looked at the next man as he was standing next to Blaze. He had wild black hair with bangs that fell in front of one of his blue eyes, a goatee, and light tan skin. He has pointed ears, which was odd to Rouge, and was wearing a black with white pinstripe dress suit that look pretty good on him. He had a scar on his right eye that went straight down through it.

"That man is Azazel. He was Blaze's best friend after they met up. Never seen two men closer than brothers." She smiled.

Then Rogue's eyes drifted to a smaller woman in the picture. She was wearing long knee high heeled boots with a black skirt that reached barely the middle of her thighs, and a bright pink blouse, over that she was wearing a shorter version of a trench coat. She was wearing sunglasses so she didn't know what color they are, but she had a devilish smirk on her face that shows that she was definitely up to something. Her long red brown hair was up in a high ponytail and there were braids that were in the ponytail itself, leaving her bangs at eyebrow level and fringes framing her face, her skin looked sun-kissed in the picture.

"Her name is Spade. She is a dangerous woman to be around, but she was very kind to the younger students and myself. She would be a formidable ally to have, or a dangerous foe if you turn against her." Storm said fondly.

"They were the Elite X-men. They disappeared 13 years ago. We still have no idea where they are at." Storm said as she took another few sips of her tea.

"Elite? What does that mean here?" Rouge asked. She was genuinely curious.

"That only means that they have high level skills and they could handle themselves without much help from others. They were the first team assembled. But they didn't assemble under Xavier. No. Renegade was the one who assembled them." Storm said as she finished the last of her tea.

"So, they didn't work for the Professor?" Rouge asked confused.

"They did under different circumstances. They would go to different countries or states and find mutants that would have a hard time controlling their powers and send them here. But other than that, they operated in a completely different way. They would infiltrate terrorist organizations, corrupt governments, and even get information and send them to people who can take care of those problems. Sometimes, they may even…_take out _certain peoples should they threaten the mutant and human populace." Storm said.

"They are Assassins?" Rouge asked thinking of a certain red-on-black-eyed thief's enemies.

"No. They don't operate like them. But the last mission, they were told to dispatch a mad scientist. They disappeared on this day. Xavier tried contacting them, but he couldn't find them anywhere. But he can't say for certain if they are dead." Storm said as she got up and placed her mug in the sink and cleaned it out.

"But you don't think they are dead?" Rouge asked.

Rouge didn't see the tear fall down Storm's face.

"No. I know they are not dead." She said as she wiped the tear away.

"If I know them, they wouldn't die without a fight." Storm resolved.

She may be reverting back to a young girl of 20 who was given the news that her mentor and 'big sister' was MIA, but she knew that there was no way that Renegade and the Elite would die. It was childish of her. Yes. But it was a way of clinging to that hope, that somewhere they were still alive.

* * *

"Xavier." A voice whispered.

_"XAVIER!" _The voice whispered louder.

_**"XAVIER!"**_

Charles Xavier woke up as he mind was assaulted by a screaming mind that was shouting at him.

_**"FIND US!" **_ The voice screamed again.

He quickly, moved himself, still in his sleeping clothing and hoisted himself onto his wheelchair. He needed to get to Cerebro. Someone was contacting him, he knew that much, but he can't discern where it is coming from. As he reached the elevator to go down to the lower levels of the school, he was assaulted with a memory.

* * *

_"You will never get away with this!" The male voice cried, his glowing emerald green eyes threatening a man with pasty pale skin and blood red eyes that I made him look like the devil himself. _

_"Ah, Blaze, it's a shame that I can't use your genetics for my experimentations, as every time I withdraw your blood and put it to someone else's, it destroys everything." A deep voice grinned in the dim light of what seemed like an operating room. _

_"Oh well," He spoke with flippancy as he flicked a needle filled with a green liquid. _

_"Let's hope in the future I can use your body when I have the right technology." He grinned. _

_"Espéce de Salaud! When I get out of this, I will blow up you body and send it to all four corners of the earth! Vous m'entendez, fils de puten!?" A woman shouted in the other room, her voice accented of her home country. _

_She shouted out a string of profanities. _

_"I'll get to you shortly, my dear!" The pasty man spoke with a smirk. _

_"Such a darling, and lovely eyes as well. Shame that I had to put your wife and Azazel already into stasis. Excuse me, I will be tending to my little Spade." He said as he placed the syringe on the table by him. _

_The man could only lay his head back and cursed the red-eyed devil. He knew he didn't have long. He had to contact Charles Xavier. No matter what the cost. At that declaration, he heard Spade's screaming. _

_"Ne vous avisez pas m'aprocher! Evadez vous!" He could hear Spade's screaming cut off. It was now or never for him._

_**"XAVIER! XAVIER!" **__he shouted in his mind. _

_It was a last ditch effort. One that he couldn't afford to lose._

* * *

The memory disappeared as he wheeled himself to Cerebro. He had one chance to find them. He was not going to let this mind signature disappear on him. Wheeling himself to the machine, he quickly placed the headset on his skull. He could hear Cerebro powering up but he pushed though and opened his eyes to find the missing X-men. He could feel his mind take flight over forests and deserts, from cities to small country towns. Until…

"There you are. I promise i will get to you." Xavier said.

He had found the 'Lost' X-Men.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Just thought I would give this a shot. This has been bouncing around in my mind for the past month after watching _**X-Men: Evolution **_ and a bit of the movies. Then something popped into my head. It is an 'What If' situation. And it is also slightly AU. But it will have romance between Rouge and Gambit and family time between Kurt and Rouge, and a few others (No spoiling). I don't want to give everything away. But i will tell you this, i wanted to give my bit of a spin on it. And lets see where it take me and you guys. I've always been a big Fan of the Marvel Franchise as well as the _**X-Men,**_ seeing as it was the 90s cartoon that i grew up with and the newer cartoons were amazing! I originally wanted it to be in the _**X-Men: The Movie **_category, but the _**Evolution **_category fit it perfectly. Are you guys excited for the _**Days of Future**** Past**_? I know I AM! :D Well, tell me what you think of it and i hope to see you guys next chapter! _**Please leave detailed reviews and opinions! I'd love to hear from you guys!**_

_**Question Time!: **_What are your favorite couples in the _**X-Men **_Franchise? My personal faves are Gambit and Rouge and Shadowcat and Colossus.

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Twilight Anime Love 21

* * *

There was a tension in the air of Xavier's School of the Gifted. It had been three days since Xavier had found The Elite. He privately called in Storm, Hank and Wolverine into his office about the situation. Wolverine could vaguely remember the Elite. He remembered them in flashes, but not enough to go on, but he was pretty sure that he crossed paths with them quite a few times. Storm was letting gout tears at the news. Hank was let in on the information and was ecstatic that whoever the Elite is, they had a job to do. They had to go and save them.

"Where are they Professor?" Storm finally spoke.

Xavier was silent for a brief moment.

"The last Coordinates of Renegade's group was Alaska. If I recall correctly, that is where they were tracking down their target. They were in the Tongass National Forest. I can pinpoint where they are at, but the rest will have to be up to you. Hank," Xavier turned towards the large blue furred mutant.

"You will be staying with me for the younger students. I can't afford to have all my teachers gone." He said.

"I understand Professor." Hank said smiling.

Xavier then turned to Storm.

"I know it has been 13 years, Ororo, but we have to be cautious when you head to their last coordinates. For all we know it could be a trap. Take precautions when you head to Tongass." Xavier cautioned.

"Gather the Senior X-men and head there in three hours. Debrief them on the way. We need to find them before the signal disappears." Xavier said as he pressed a button on his desk.

A holographic version of the Panhandle of Alaska appeared. A red dot marked where The Elite might be.

"They are deep in the Tongass forest. Based on the memories that are assaulting my mind, it is Blaze that has been contacting me for the past three days." He said as he brought up the Forest of Tongass. Storm looked at Xavier in shock.

"Blaze isn't a telepath... unless…" Storm said with confusion lacing her voice.

"You know as well as I do, Storm, that Blaze's powers gives him certain advantages." Xavier stated.

Storm nodded, but she was left with a sense of Déjà vu.

"I cannot communicate with Blaze. Something is blocking me from having any conversation with him to get more information. Communication on his end is one way. When you get to the location, try and figure out what is blocking me. This is a Rescue Mission. I will upload the coordinates into the Blackbird. You are dismissed." Xavier said as he started to bring up coordinates to put into the Blackbird.

As Logan, Hank, and Ororo walked down the halls Hank perked up.

"The Elite. I do not think I have heard of them before." He spoke.

"Heh, if I could recall my memories, I'd tell you. All I know of the Elite is that they are composed of four mutants; all Class 5." Logan growled unconsciously.

"Only one of them was a student of the Professor. Renegade. Her civilian name is Hanna Adler. Though, she married Thomas Montmorency, Blaze. She is Hanna Montmorency now. She once went by the name Fate, but disregarded it." Ororo spoke.

"Fate? As in one of the three fates in Greek Mythology?" Hank asked.

Storm nodded, but spoke no further. For her, speaking of her mentor's past is bad luck. They decided to split ways.

"Wolverine, gather the X-Men. I will be at the Blackbird warming it up." She said as she started to walk away, but Logan grabbed her wrist gently and spoke.

"It'll be okay 'Ro. Chuck found them. I'm pretty sure that they are hard to get rid of." He said comforting her. Storm chuckled and smiled sadly.

"I know. That's what I'm worried about. Logan…they disappeared. Nothing from them in 13 years. I wanted to give up on them." She said as she clutched her fists.

"I know that Renegade was your mentor. Last time I saw her was when she and the others left the mansion the day I arrived." He said then huffed.

"Told me that I better be a good teacher. Never knew she would be right." He scoffed.

This time Storm cracked a grin.

"She's usually always right." She said as she walked off.

Wolverine rolled his eyee at the statement. Then went downstairs to the kids that would be coming with for the mission.

* * *

"Kurt! Give back the milk!" Rouge shouted at the blue furred, prehensile spade-tailed adopted brother of hers.

"I'm not done yet! I need another bowl of Fruity-Os!" The young teen said with a fanged smile and a German accent.

"If ya don't give me the milk, Kurt, I will suck you dry." She threatened.

Though Rouge would never do that to another person, the threat was there.

"Just one more bowl! I haven't eaten lunch today." He whined.

"Ah don't care!" Rouge said as she reached for the milk carton, but Kurt 'bamf'-ed away before Rouge could touch him and he reappeared on the other side of the kitchen.

"Just one more bowl, then you can have it back." He said as he was about to pour the milk into his bowl, but it was taken out of his hand by a newcomer. Remy LeBeau, otherwise known as Gambit.

"Sorry _mon ami_, but I do believe y' _seour _asked for de milk." He said grinning devilishly.

Rouge rolled her eyes at Remy. Since Gambit and Colossus joined the X-men a year ago, Gambit has been trying over and over again to go out with her. She declined every time.

_"Not like I can have a decent relationship anyways." _She scorned herself.

"Hey! That's not cool, Gambit!" Kurt whined.

But Remy ignored him and gave the milk to Rouge. She rolled her eyes yet again by the so-called 'chivalrous act' that he put on.

"So _mon cherié,_" He began.

_"And here comes his proposition. Doesn't this boy ever give up?" _Rouge thought to herself.

"How about a little game of pool and a bet?" He said as his red on black eyes glimmered.

Rouge forced herself not to stare at the handsome Cajun. She liked him yes, but she couldn't touch him, kiss him, and the like. So she stayed away from him as far as possible. It didn't help for the fact that he kept chasing after her.

"Oh? What kind of bet?" She said snarkly as she poured the stolen milk into her bowl.

"Well de loser walks away wit' wounded pride, but de winner…" He said as he moved closer to the side of her face.

"Gets a kiss." He smiled.

She glared at him and moved away.

"Are you crazy? Or do you wanna end up in a coma?" She scolded him.

"Maybe it's worth it, no?" He shrugged.

Rouge let out an exasperated sigh. She didn't even respond.

"Gambit, like, leave Rouge alone." A young girl said as she walked into the kitchen.

Her name was Katherine Pryde. But she goes by either Kitty or Shadowcat. She wore blue capris, white shirt and a pink cardigan and her brown hair was up in a ponytail.

"But_ chaton, _I was merely asking for an innocent game." He said smiling brightly.

"Like, that charm worked on me last year, but this year it's not working." She pointed out smirking.

"Oh well, I tried." Remy said as he leaned against the counter.

"Besides, I have Pete. I don't need a Cajun like you." Kitty smiled.

Gambit placed a hand to his heart.

"Oh, y' wound me _chaton! _I think I need some medical attention. Rouge, would y' give me CPR?" He raised an eyebrow at the white stripe haired girl.

"I'd rather leave you on the ground to die." She said drolly.

Kurt laughed at Remy's crest-fallen face. No matter how much Remy tried to get Rouge's affections, she always shot him down. He didn't need to worry about his _schwester_. She could already take care of herself.

"Ooh, burn, Gambit. Shot down." Kurt said as he sat next to him.

Just as Gambit was about to retort, Wolverine came in and spoke.

"All right, all senior X-Men, suit up and get to the Blackbird. We have a rescue mission and we were suppose to leave yesterday, MOVE IT!" He ordered.

Rouge, Gambit, Kurt and Kitty quickly finished up whatever food was out and ran to the docking bay. They suited up in separate rooms and met the other X-Men on the Blackbird. They were in for a long ride.

* * *

The X-Men were currently en route to Alaska. Wolverine was flying pilot and was pushing the Blackbird as fast is it can handle. Storm had briefed the X-Men that it was a very important mission.

"They called themselves The Elite X-Men. 13 years ago, they had received a mission to track down a scientist that went by the name of Nathanial Essex. It took them months to track down where he was at and they disappeared not long after they had confirmed two weeks before that they found him." Storm said as she looked at the young students that had grown to maturity. She could only hope that she succeeded in teaching them.

"The Professor managed to gather a location and a mental scream of where it came from." She said in a professional voice.

"Jean, you should be able to hear a scream when we get nearing to the coordinates." Storm spoke to the red haired young woman. She nodded.

"Um, Storm? What do you mean by, 'Scream'?" Shadowcat asked as she raised her hand.

"A mental scream is something that only telepaths can hear. Though this mental scream can only be heard by certain telepaths, Jean might be able to hear it. We find the person who is currently 'screaming' first. He is our top priority. The rest will follow." Storm said.

"How many people are we talking here?" Rouge asked.

"There are only four in The Elite. Their names are: Renegade, Blaze, Spade, and Azazel. They are allies and good friends to The Professor." She finished.

"Our objection: Find them and bring them home." Storm said and left it at that and went back to the front of the Blackbird to speak with Wolverine.

"So these 'Elite', I wonder why the Professor, Storm and Logan never talked about them?" Scott Summers, Cyclops, asked.

"I saw Storm a couple nights ago and she was talking to me about them. They seemed really close to her." Rouge spoke.

"Really? So The Elite are Storm's friends? That's cool!" Kurt Smiled.

Rouge furrowed her brow. "Yeah, but they reminded me of some people. I'm not sure how and why." Rouge said confused.

"Like who, Rouge?" Jean asked. Rouge shrugged her shoulders.

"I honestly don't know, Jean. Maybe when all of this is over I might find out." Rouge said as she leaned back in her chair, patiently waiting to be back on land and solve this little mystery that she so wanted to solve.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_So, my little challenge for me is to write a chapter everyday for NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. And i wanted to give it a shot. And don't worry, this is all just practice and a good way for me to improve grammar, language (Foreign) usage, and a few others. I will still update my other story (_**Silver**_** Heart**) but i'm hoping to work this out for this month. I have no clue on how long this story will be, the chaptered will probably be either 2 thousand to 3 thousand words per chapter, but after this month is over, i will be going over it again and editing and re-writing it and making longer chapters or combining them. So far i've only had one review, 2 faves, and 6 follows on this. Which is fine by me, but i would LOVE to hear from you guys! Now for the _**SHOUT OUTS!**_

_**Reviewer: **_Renegade's history will be popping out sooner or later as all The Elite's history, but that will be coming up in the future. Glad you love the story so far! :D

_**Question time!: **_**Out of All the X-Men Characters, which ones are your favorites and why?** Rouge, Gambit, Woverine, and Deadpool. Rouge because I think she is the strongest character in the series, Gambit because who doesn't love a smooth talkin' cajun and he's such a hottie! Wolverine because he had a tragic misfortune of losing his memories and he tries to remember his past (That goes for movie Wolverine as well), and Deadpool just because he's Deadpool. You can't help but love him. :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will come tomorrow and you will be seeing some scary stuff (At least to me) and you get to see A bit of conflict as well. _**PLEASE LEAVE AWESOME REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_ See you guys tomorrow! :D

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Twilight Anime Love 21

* * *

It took about 4 hours to get to the Tongass National Forest. During that time the X-Men were talking about possible rescue scenarios. Some of which were…slightly ridiculous.

"I wonder if they are in a dungeon of an old castle?" Kurt thought out loud. Kitty laughed at him.

"Kurt, I think you are thinking of Europe. They have a lot of castles there. Alaska doesn't have any." She said smiling.

This made Kurt frown.

"Aw, but castles are cool. I remember back home, my parents took me to a few monasteries in Germany and they were huge! Just like castles." Kurt exclaimed.

"Is that so, _comrade?_" The tall, muscular boy spoke with a heavy Russian accent.

"Yes! Though my favorite one would have to be the one that is in the mountains. When we visited there, the sheer size of it was magnificent! The priests there were so kind." Kurt said with a bit of excitement.

Rogue had to smile at her brother's joy of Germany. She recalled a few conversations she had with him when he spoke of home. One of the conversations was that he spoke to her about one of the priests in a different monastery tried to 'banish' him to the demon world. At the time he was just a small child, but when he got older, he just laughed it off.

"I'd like to go to Germany with you someday, Kurt. Who knows, maybe you would join the Brotherhood." Rogue smiled.

Kurt smiled. "My future is open to many options, but for now, I'd rather stay here with you guys." Kurt said wistfully.

"I think the blue elf is right." Gambit leaned back in his chair.

"Dis life is better." He smiled at Rogue.

"Only because you are trying to score a date with _mien schwester_, you thief." Kurt jested.

"Y' wound me, _mon ami!" _Gambit said dramatically.

"Like I'd go on a date with you anyways, swamp rat." Rogue said as she opened a bottle of water and took a few sips.

Gambit chuckled at Rogue. One of these days he'll get her on a date. But only part of what Kurt said was true. He did want to date the spitfire Mississippi girl. When he made the descision to join the X-men, he had to break off a few ties to the Thieves' Guild. Jean-Luc wanted him to come back. But he declined.

"I'll come back when I'm good and ready. Maybe then you might treat me like a son instead of a tool." He said as he left his adoptive father on the streets of New Orleans.

He hated leaving the Big Easy again. The first time he left was to avoid a marriage proposition with the Assassins Guild's own Belladona Boudreaux. When he was young, he was best friends with her. They played together, sparred together, but then things changed when he turned 16. He was in love with her since they were kids, but it was after her first hit contract that she changed. She became a bit cold-hearted and slightly possessive and things went downhill. He was 21 now. His was own man and he didn't want to be tied down. So he didn't come back until he heard the 'Rippers' kidnapped Jean-Luc. His older brother Henri had called him during a heist for a client (Remy swore from then on that he would never bring his phone with him again.) and told him about the situation. If the marriage to Belladonna never happened, they would kill him.

So Remy had to be pretty damn smart and lucky to even go into Assassin territory and get out alive. Rogue came into play. She was the only one he knew of that could help him. When she left him on the cold hard ground he thought he was on his own. That was fine with him. He got that far with her help. He could handle the rest. But when she did come back, his heart soared. She took out a couple of Rippers with just a touch and she even took on one of them. He gave her the Queen of Hearts card telling her that she had people looking out for her. Himself included. He returned to Bayville a little after the Apocalypse Incident and joined the X-Men. He wanted to play Hero for the time being. So far, being a Hero was the best thing ever for him. From what he heard from Henri, Belladonna decided not to go through with the proposition to unite the guilds. Remy would have to send her a gift basket when he goes back to New Orleans next time.

"Alright, get ready everyone! We are approaching coordinates." The X-Men heard Wolverine from up front.

All manner of joking and playfulness dissipated as they prepared themselves for landing. It was a smooth landing and they filed out. Snow was everywhere and it was freezing.

"Like, you didn't say anything about it being cold." Shadowcat shivered as she huddled next to her boyfriend.

"Kit, it's Alaska, it's always cold up here." Rouge said as she pulled her coat to her body tightly. Rogue then glared at Gambit who was just fine with his trench coat.

"What I don't understand is how Gambit isn't shivering like me." Kurt said rubbing his arms together.

"M' powers, of course. 'Dey keep m' temperature close to about 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Clever no?" Gambit smiled.

"Alright. We should be near the base. Red, try and see if you can hear any screams. Everyone else, keep on your toes. Let's move." Wolverine said as he put on the mask of his outfit on.

* * *

It was a long two hours in the cold when they came across what seemed like an abandoned bunker. There was so much undergrowth it had covered the entire building. They would have completely missed it if it weren't for Jean. Jean placed her hand to her temple and focused on whatever was causing the screaming. It was faint, but it was there.

"It's somewhere in there." She said.

"In this tiny bunker? What could possibly be in this small bunker?" Kurt said as he leaned against the door. They all heard a large 'CREEK' and Kurt fell down with the door underneath him.

"Nice going Elf." Wolverine growled.

Kurt gave a sheepish chuckle but stopped as he looked to the left side and saw something strange.

"Um, guys? Do bunkers usually have elevators?" Kurt asked as he stared at the elevator doors.

It was very strange to the X-men, save for Wolverine, that the small bunker had a large building underneath it. It went down 5 stories. They had to halt at every floor for Jean to get a reading on it. It was the fourth floor that she felt the strong wave of 'screaming'. What the younger X-Men expected out of a scientists lab was basically lab materials and test tubes and chemistry sets. What they didn't expect was human sized cylinders that contained bodies. Lots and lots of bodies.

Rogue walked up to one and wiped at it, pushing away the dust and saw a body floating in some sort of liquid. The body's physiology resembled a bird and feathers were floating around it. But it bugged her that there were cold, dead, glassy eyes stared out into nothing. She shivered and walked away. Wolverine growled at the scents that wafted around the large floor. He could smell death, blood, and something that he couldn't place.

"This place is giving me the creeps." Kitty said as she looked around.

"You and me both, who would do this?" Kurt said as he looked at a tube with what looked like a man, but it looked more like a blob of flesh.

"Who knows? Mad scientists always want to experiment on things. Mutants to this guy must be the mother load for him." Scott said.

Jean was currently trying to find the 'screaming'. She was getting closer and closer. She left the group behind but Rogue noticed and she followed her.

"Find anything Jean?" Rogue asked. Jean looked back at Rogue.

"Yes. But it's hard to place. I think I'm getting closer." Jean said as she looked at each of the large tubes.

She hated being here. The bodies were very disturbing to look at; some were deformed beyond recognition and some looked half decayed. She shook her head and kept going. She focused again. The mental strain on her mind was giving her a headache, but then she heard it. The scream resonated through her mind and she stopped right in front of a dusty cylinder. The cylinder was still bubbling and there was a shadow in it.

"I think I found him." Jean said.

She sent a telepathic message to the other X-Men and notified them that she had found the 'screamer'.

In less than a few minutes, the X-Men gathered around the cylinder. Rogue went up and pushed off all the dust that had accumulated on it. There was a man in there. Storm opened her mouth in a silent gasp.

"Blaze." She breathed quietly.

The man in the container hadn't aged a day. He reached a height of 6'1 easily. His blond hair was waving around with the water. His body was toned, as if he worked out often and his face was aristocratic in nature with a handsome square jaw. He was wearing a wetsuit that clung to him like a second skin. It was black with blue lines. There was a breathing tube apparatus that covered his nose and mouth.

"Let's get him out then." Wolverine said as he unsheathed his claws.

"No, Not yet. We have to wake him up before we get him out. Jean, can you do it?" Storm asked. Jean nodded.

"I'll try. It won't be easy." She said as she stepped up to the cylinder.

"Jean, I'm only warning you now, be careful when you enter Blaze's mind. He has often come across a few telepaths back then, including the Professor. Be careful." Storm warned. Jean nodded and placed her hand to the temple of her head. She focused on his mind and entered.

* * *

_Jean found herself being overcome by a wave of voices. It felt like a river crashing into her, pushing her back. She stood her ground however. The voices were constantly loud and she was searching for the mind of Blaze. She was confused as she pushed her way through all these voices. Why did he have so many voices in his mind? It was all disorienting. She shouted through the darkness and voices. _

_"Blaze! I'm here to wake you up! Storm sent me!" She cried. _

_The voices raised in volumes. She was so overwhelmed that she fell to her knees. She felt like she was being swallowed up. _

_"Blaze! Please!" She shouted. _

_The mental assault on her mind was too much and it felt like her mind couldn't take anymore. She was about to withdraw from his mind until… _

_"Silence." A voice whispered though out the crowd of voices. _

_The voices dissipated as if they were dust. All was silent in the dark abyss of the mind. She looked around. The darkness was turning into something lighter._

_ It was morphing into a large well-lit ballroom. It was tall and grand with chandeliers and pillars and vases of flowers. With royal reds and blues that decorated the place. Along the walls were doors. Each door seemed to have a name on it. _

_Jamie. _

_Kyle._

_ Hans. _

_Corbin._

_ Darren._

_ Silvia. _

_Hailey._

_ Janis. _

_Greta. _

_Why were there names on these doors? _

_"You called?" She heard a British accent behind her. _

_She turned around and saw the tall man that she saw outside. He was dressed in clothing that suggested he was in a different kind of work, in stark contrast to the Ballroom. He was wearing heavy combat boots and black pants. His shirt was dark red and he was wearing a black-blue trench coat that fit his frame all too well. His piercing emerald eyes looked over her. _

_"I haven't seen a female telepath since Emma Frost. Who are you?" His tenor voice said. _

_"I'm part of the X-Men. Storm sent me here." She gestured around the ballroom. The man seemed taken aback. _

_"Ororo? She sent you here to get me?" He asked with a surprised tone. _

_"We came to rescue you. The Elite. I'm going to try and guide you out of your mind to wake you up. I don't know how long I can keep this up." Jean said as she held her head in pain. _

_"Well then, let's get out of here before the psyches become rampant again. Wouldn't want you to go insane now do we?" He smiled as he reached out his hand. _

_Jean was confused of how the man phrased his reply, but didn't dwell on it as she grabbed his hand and pulled._

* * *

**TAL21: **Well! Here's day three chapter three! I hope i creeped you guys out a little with the bodies, i know i did! Anyways, you got to meet Blaze! So what do you think of him? He may look charming, but he has a few secrets of his own that are pretty dangerous. Especially his powers. He's going to be coming up in the next chapter and a little side affect from sleeping for 13 years will be _flaring _up. Not only will you bee meeting Blaze, you will be meeting Spade as well! But to get to Spade, well the X-men might have to fight off a couple of _ghouls. _You heard me. Now on with the _**SHOUT OUTS!**_

_**Heartbreak Lane:**_ Sorry for the misspelling of Rogue. I usually use either one. It's either Rouge or Rogue. Both sound the same. But for this story's sake, i'll fix it. :) Thank you for liking the concept of the story. :)

_**Yuki: **_Eh, you are close, but not quiet. Spade and Azazel are separate. You are on the right track with Spade, just not with Azazel. *Mischievously grins* You'll be finding out in future chapters. :D

_**ZellaStormz: ** _Eh, i started this story on the first of November. I might as well jump onto the bandwagon! It's a fun challenge for me because everyday i have to write at least 2000 words for each chapter. Trust me, it's no easy feat and it's my first time trying it. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far! I'm actually surprised that some people are enjoying it. It's a new idea that i don't think people have tried before, in the Cartoon category i think. But i hope i'm doing well enough! Thanks for sticking with me! :D

_**TAL21: **_And we are done with the _**SHOUT OUTS! **_I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Time to get started on the next one! _**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS!**_

_**Question Time!:**_ Some people have wondered if 'The Elite' were certain characters parents. What do you guys think and why did you come to the conclusion? :D

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**History Before The X-Men**_

by TimeAndLife21

* * *

The last thing that Blaze could remember before going under stasis from Essex's serum was his powers shutting down and being suppressed. Then came the numbing feeling and he fell into darkness. He was lucky that he had a bunch of psyches to back him up to keep his mind active. At least he managed to get his SOS out there. Now he felt cold and wet. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a container filled with liquid. His training kicked in.

_"Do not panic. That is the first thing you have learned when you were a kid. NEVER panic." _He told himself.

He did a few things first. He didn't know how long he had been under stasis. A month. A year. Five Years. Who knows how long he has been under there. He then started to move his body. His feet and legs first, making sure he could move them efficiently, then the torso twisting in the water and disturbing it, then his hands, arms, and neck. He could hear muffled voices outside the cylinder. The telepath must be out there. But he couldn't get out just yet. He needed to test his powers. He took a deep breath from the breathing apparatus and calmed his mind to the point of serenity. His trigger for his power was mental. He found the 'on' switch and he could feel the current of his power running through his body.

But something was off…instead of his original power running through his body, multiple powers ran through him. He felt ice cold, then he felt stronger than 100 men, then a burning sensation raced through his body, then his mind was assaulted by thoughts of the outside world.

_"He's awake." _

_"Why isn't he trying to get out?"_

_ "What wrong with him?"_

He felt other powers run through him. His shoulder blades were becoming painful enough that he wanted the wings to burst through. Electrical currents ran though his body. This wasn't good. He had to get out of the water and reel in the powers he had accumulated over the years. He could feel the pull of the shadows, the want to manipulate them to his will. Then charging the water with kinetic energy, then feeling like he had to teleport out of the cylinder. He ripped off the breathing apparatus and banged his fists onto the surface of the glass, cracking it. He saw a blurred orange and black figure taking the other figures back away from the container he was in. This was good. He needed as much space as he could take. He felt his body trying to morph into something else but he held that need back, unfortunately his fingers started to grow out claws and in frustration, he banged against the glass surface again. Cracking it even further.

He felt the water shoot up his nose and mouth.

_"Don't you DARE panic! Assassins NEVER panic!"_ He could hear the voice of his old teacher ringing in his mind.

In one final effort, he backed up in the water and pushed himself off a wall and crashed into the glass. The roaring of water accompanied him as he fell out of the container into the hard floor onto the glass. He could feel the shards digging into his skin, it momentarily derailed his mind from losing control for the moment, then the real challenge was bringing all those damned powers back into the proper places. He snarled in pain and frustration and held his head in anger. He howled and shook furiously. Managing to get up on two feet he looked up and saw the group of young mutants in attack position. He could tell that they were not there to fight him. Another wave of heat rolled over in his body and he hunched over. He screamed in agony, trying to put the powers back where they belonged. He saw flashes of the future, the past, and the present. But it flitted from his mind as he shoved it back into a mental box.

He opened his eyes again, only to find himself surrounded by blue and white fire. He straightened himself out and gave a primal roar. The fire was trying to disobey him. He quickly reined it in and commanded it to stay where it should be. He pushed in the ice-cold feeling into a box, the shadows into another. One by one the powers were pushed away and locked up, except the blue and white fire and his original power. He felt the fires lick at his bare skin on his face, but it didn't burn. He contained the beautiful blue and white inferno that surrounded him. Begging him not to extinguish it. He hadn't a choice. The pain of pushing the powers away, he stood up straight and tall and swept his arm over the fire around him the fire died down and he fell to his knees in exhaustion. Only now his original power ran through him. He took deep breaths and pulled in that power and flipped it to neutral, neither offensive nor defensive. He heard footsteps hesitantly walking toward him.

"Blaze." A voice spoke to him.

He looked up enough to see a brown skinned woman kneel down by him. Her white hair and familiar face filled his vision. He chuckled darkly.

"Ororo? Is that you?" He asked as he smirked.

The woman's face turned to and emotion one of relief. It was her, alright. She looked older. How long had he been under?

"How long?" He asked. Slightly afraid of the answer she would give him.

"Thirteen years." She said quietly.

His eyes widened and he leaned back onto his rear, sighing in relief, anger, and a little bit of sorrow. 13 years. He had been under stasis for 13 YEARS. He chuckled darkly. 13 years of his life had passed by and he spent most of it under a drugged coma-like state. But at least now the real world was more appealing than screaming in his mind. He shook his head and water droplets went everywhere. He looked up at the woman who was one the little tag along with his wife.

"Thirteen years? Thirteen years that I have been under stasis…last time I saw you Ororo, you were," He gestured to his waist in a slight joking manner, "this high. Now look at you. You are a grown young women. Renegade would be proud." He smiled.

Ororo gave a breathy chuckle and hugged the man. Never caring that he was wet.

"It's good to see you again. I'm glad to know that you are still alive." She said as tears formed in her eyes.

"Eh, enough of the sadness, 'Roro." He said as she let him go.

"Now help me up and introduce me to your X-Men. I know for a fact that you have not stuck around Xavier just to wait for us to come home." Blaze said as he stood up shakily. Storm grasped his arm to steady him.

"Montmorency. Nice to know you are still kicking, bub." He heard a familiar voice.

"Wolverine. Nice to see your face again. How's your amnesia? Still stuck in repeat?" He cracked.

Wolverine unsheathed a middle claw in a subtle gesture and Blaze laughed.

"Nice to know you care." He chuckled.

"Blaze, please." Storm said trying to hid her own smile.

Blaze chuckled before landing his eyes on the group around him. He was confused. He recognized the red headed telepath that pulled him out of the safety of his mind. She looked a lot younger than he though she was. He roved his eyes over the group.

"Storm…where are the X-Men?" He asked confused.

"This is the X-Men, bub." Wolverine said.

Blaze looked over at the gruff Canadian with a look on his face that showed disbelief.

"These are CHILDREN." He said incredulously.

* * *

"These are children." The blond man said as he looked over her group.

Rogue's face turned red. Well the youngest of the X-Men was Kitty and Kurt. But to call the rest of them children, she felt insulted.

"Hey, we are not kids." She said as she walked up to the man who leaned on Storm like a crutch.

She saw from the corner of her eye, Wolverine giving her a look, but she didn't care. The blond man looked at her with a calculating look.

"I'm sorry, should I call you an infant?" He said with a chilling voice.

She instantly disliked this man.

"We can handle ourselves. We are risking our lives to rescue you." Her southern accent turning stronger at every word. The man raised his eyebrow in mocking.

"Okay, step up from infant. Toddlers then." He said then her turned to Storm.

"You have them as your X-Men. What is Xavier thinking?" He asked.

"Things have changed, Thomas. Please accept it." Storm said with a edge of steel in her voice.

She refused to have Blaze insult her students. Blaze let it go. He wasn't up for arguing when he had three teammates and dear friends to rescue.

"Fine. Care to introduce me?" He said as he regained enough strength to stand on his own.

Storm introduced him to all the X-Men. When she got to Rogue, she crossed her arms in defiance.

"This is Rogue." Storm said. Rogue raised an eyebrow, mocking him from earlier.

"You have spunk, kid." He smirked.

"She does, _non_?" Gambit spoke smiling. Rogue noticed a strange look coming across his face. It was mixed between surprise and confusion.

Then, "Your eyes…are they hereditary?" He asked him. Gambit shrugged.

"Don't know _homme. _I was adopted." He said flippantly.

Blaze nodded his head in understanding. Rogue was wondering why he was asking that kind of question.

Then, "Did you run into any trouble coming here?" He said as he moved he looked around.

"Trouble? No. Why?" Scott asked.

"Because you should have run into…" His words were cut off and he stiffened up.

Growls echoed in the corridor. Wolverine unsheathed his claws.

"Ghouls. They were failed subjects of Essex's experimentations. Also know as 'Guard Dogs' here." Blaze said as he went into a defensive position. Everyone took a defensive position.

"They won't attack now. They are calculating but highly unpredictable. We need to find the others now." Blaze said coldly.

"I'm pretty sure Spade is here. Let's go and find her." He ordered.

"Wait, how do you know if…Spade is on this floor?" Kurt asked.

Blaze turned around and started to speak, but nothing came out as he looked upon Kurt that same way he looked at Gambit.

Rogue just though he was being rude. He shook his head.

"I know she's here. I don't need a telepath to know where she is." He said confidently.

"How would you know where she's at?" Jean asked.

Blaze smirked at the young X-Men.

"When you have powers like mine, you can pick out people easily in the crowd." He said as he looked around in the corridor.

"Lets move. I'd rather not run into ghouls at this point. I wish I had my guns." He mumbled.

"Let's go. Stay together X-Men." Storm said as they moved out.

Rogue looked around slightly before landing her eyes on a pair if evil white eyes hidden in the shadows. She blinked and they were gone. She shivered. She hoped this mission would be over soon enough.

* * *

The group walked quietly as much as they could through the corridors. Blaze was constantly on edge and muttering things under his breath, it was quiet enough that Wolverine couldn't hear him.

"Freaking eyes."

"Blue skin and tail"

"I'm not surprised." Rogue was a little bit behind him. She did not like that man. Something about him made her mad, and it wasn't that fact that he called her, 'Kid.'. Only Logan had the permission to call her that. One thing nagged at her mind though, and she was curious about it.

"What are your powers anyways? You had that freak out back there." Rogue asked harshly.

She was pretty sure that the others were also curious about the man's powers.

"The powers I have are unique in many ways." He said as he lifted a hand and a blue and white fireball was created in his palm, then he extinguished it by clenching his fist.

"Currently I'm trying to find Spade." He spoke calmly.

"You're telepathic too?" Rogue asked.

"No. Unlike, your red headed friend, I'm not telepathic. It's a side effect of my own power. I'm currently searching for any life force on this floor. So far, they are dead." He said blankly.

Rogue pushed aside the last comment he had.

"Life force?" she asked.

"My powers allow me to find life forces and pinpoint them." He said as he stopped suddenly. He looked to the right and walked briskly.

"This way. We are getting close to Spade." He said as he started to run.

He twisted and turned in the halls and stopped abruptly that Rogue ran into him.

"Tell me when you stop!" She glared up at him.

He didn't look down. She turned her head to the side to wonder what was so interesting but she held in a gasp. There was a woman in a large container. It wasn't the cylindrical ones that the other bodies had. It was a tank. The woman was floating in the water. A breathing apparatus was connected to her nose and mouth. But there were other things that were connected to her, wires and tubes. She wore the same kind of wetsuit that Blaze was wearing save for the different colored stripes. Her suit was black and red.

She looked small in the large tank. Her red brown hair was flowing everywhere in the water. But something was off about her. Rogue looked at her face and gasped. Her eyes. Her eyes were sewn shut. Thick thread kept them shut.

"The bastard…he sewed her eyes shut." Blaze said. His words were laced with poison.

Storm went up to the glass. "Who would do this to her?" Storm said as she touched the glass almost hesitantly.

"Essex, of course. He did say that she had lovely eyes." Blaze said as he clenched his fists.

Rogue wanted to throw up. It was unnatural to see someone who is in that water like a test subject.

"So, how do we get her out of there?" Kitty asked slightly pale.

"I can try and wake her up." Jean offered.

"No. You can't enter her mind. It's filled with static. Even the best of telepaths can't enter her mind without forcing themselves through. No. I will wake her up." Blaze said.

"How are you going to do that? You said yourself that you are not a telepath." Scott said as he crossed his arms.

Rogue would have to agree with him. How could a man like Blaze, wake up the woman without telepathy? It was beyond her.

"Oh don't worry." Blaze said as he flexed his hands and smiled wickedly.

He placed his hands on the tank and closed his eyes.

"I have just the thing to wake her up." He said smiling as if he was enjoying an inside joke.

Meanwhile, four pairs of glowing white eyes were hidden in the shadows, waiting for their time to strike.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Here's chapter four! So, here is Blaze. He is basically charming and an a bit of an asshole at first, but he will be more polite in the future. Especially when Renegade will come into play, given the fact that she is his wife. And he will be waking up Spade. How will he wake her up you say? Well you will just have to find out now won't you? :D Now to the _**Shout outs**_!

_**ZellaStormz: **_I enjoy writing a lot. And NaNoWriMo is basically very challenging and it takes lots of effort and time to work out the words. It's easy to write a novel, but to make it GOOD, is the real challenge. As for Spade, she has an interesting history that i love very much. She is awesome in many ways. As for acting like certain people, don't worry, it will be slightly obvious sooner or later. :D

_**TAL21: ** _And that's it for the shout outs! The Next chapter, we will be introducing Spade in all her fun and quirky glory, but she will quickly butt heads with Blaze given their different backgrounds. It's going to be fun! **_PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE!_**

_**Question time!**_: Given the chance to work with the producers of _**X-Men:**** Evolution**_, what would you have changed in the series?

_**REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Twilight Anime Love 21

* * *

Scarlett LaChance had always stayed at least three steps ahead of her enemy, just enough to turn the game on them and make her getaway. Her father, Lumiére LaChance told her that her recklessness would be her downfall someday. She could remember the cooing French her mother would sing to her when her father pushed her too hard during training when she was young.

"_Mére, am I weak?" _She remembered asking her sickly mother on the bed.

She would curl up to her side and listen to her mother's heartbeat.

_"Never. You are a strong one, mon bébe cherié. You will someday take over the LaChance Guild with pride." _Her mother would say as she smoothed her daughter's hair out.

She would have taken over the Guild if it weren't for the fact that Essex caught her group off guard when they were hunting him down, she would have run the Guild with a gentle but strong iron fist. She should have seen it coming. Her namesake's luck had run out.

She truly thought she had died and had been sent to limbo. Essex had the gall to pump her full of adrenaline before sewing her eyes shut, probably to teach her a lesson from the last time. Then he injected whatever the hell it is that plunged her into the darkness. She was just floating there. In the darkness with no one to speak to. Her dear friend Renegade was the first to be injected.

"Spade, trust Me." was the last words she spoke.

_Trust her? I've trusted her for many years and she doubts my loyalty? _Scarlett thought to herself.

She hated the fact that after all these years of running around with Renegade, Renegade gave her all open doors to leave her. Yeah. Her life as a thief was great. She was the _best _thief in her guild. No one could own up to her. She raked in the cash and she cracked into heavy security places where some thieves wouldn't dare try to. But when she was with Renegade, Azazel and even Blaze, she knew she was doing something for the greater good.

They were so _damned_ close! They had managed to take out the guards, some scientist wanna-bes and she faced off against a henchman that was twice her size. She managed to take him out in less then five seconds. They were so close! It wasn't until Renegade stopped in a corridor and her light blue eyes turned dark-gold in the dimmed lights. They had widened to horrific propositions.

_"We need to get out! NOW!" _

They had been compromised. Renegade had lead the group back to the outside and ordered for them to split up and get away as fast as possible. She remembered running through the forest jumping up to tree branches and jumping from branch to branch. Then a sharp pinch struck the back of her neck. A Sedative.

_"Maudit sois-tu, Essex!" _

He took her off guard once. She wouldn't dare let him catch her off guard again. But she did. She hated being in a dark place if she doesn't know the layout. She was just floating there.

"Are you just going to wallow here in pity, LaChance?" she heard that damning British voice.

She turned and saw her teammate and friend. She wouldn't admit that he was her friend though.

"If it isn't the assassin." She groaned as she saw the blond haired man.

"I truly must be in hell, if I'm seeing you. Great." She laughed.

Blaze only rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to wake up or not? I could leave you here and come back for you later." He said as he crossed his arms.

"Wake up?" she furrowed her brows.

"What are you talking about, _homme?" _She asked with confusion.

She was dead…right?

Blaze shook his head and smiled at her, an actually gentle smile. For the moment, they forgot the game that they played of Assassin vs. Thief. It took a moment to get through her head that she was still _alive! _

"But wait…I know you have a telepath stored in your mind somewhere. How are you able to communicate with me? You can't just enter my mind. " She asked, knowing that her powers don't let telepaths in her mind.

He wiggled his fingers and smiled.

"You know how." He said in a know it all tone.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. He had come a long way from a cold-hearted killer to the slight jokester and friend (Though she would not admit it) that she knows now.

"Yeah, yeah, your powers suck the life out of everything. But how you managed to do that…" She was going to say.

"I had practice. Thirteen years of it." He said as a matter of factly.

She froze. Thirteen years? She was asleep for thirteen freaking years? Where the hell was her Prince Charming to wake her up then?

_'Screw Prince Charming. I can save myself.' _She thought as she floated closer to Blaze.

"Well?" she said cocking her eyebrow. He smiled wickedly. She knew he was holding something back.

_'I wonder after all these years, Renegade knew of her husband's little games?'_

"Okay, _dites-moi. Maintenant!_" She said with a growl.

"You are currently in a tank of water. With wires and tubes attached to you. And I don't know if you have noticed, your eyes are also sewn shut." He said with a blank face. She sneered at the emerald-eyed man.

"_Non! Vraiment?_" She said sarcastically.

He chuckled at her.

"Let's get you out of here. Don't panic if you wake up in water and blinded." He said as he reached out his hand.

"Any funny stuff and I'm telling Renegade." She said strictly as she grabbed his hand.

He nodded.

"Now you are going to feel a pulling. This is actually the first time I'm attempting to bring someone to life, rather than killing them." He said quickly.

"What!?" She shouted.

Then she knew no more.

* * *

Blaze's face contorted in pain and pulled away from the glass and stumbled back. His forced himself not to bring his hands to his body. It was tingling with charged energy that he wanted to release but he shoved that back into the mental box in his mind.

"Blaze, are you okay?" Storm asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine. Spade should be waking up…she'll be pissed but hey, at least she's alive." He said as he leaned back against a cylinder.

His hands twitched again, but he flexed them a few times just to push and pull in the feeling of kinetic energies from exploding up the containers. He hated Spade's powers. How she managed to handle them, he will never know.

Gambit was noticing the strange behavior of the tall blond man. He has been acting strange since he was awakened. This was a rescue mission, but there was something more to it than just that. His empathy was picking up pain from Blaze. He doesn't show it but Gambit could feel it from him. His empathy abilities were picking up a lot of things. Annoyance, worry, hatred, and something else he couldn't place. The list goes on with this guy. Gambit would have to keep an eye on him. He's not usually this suspicious of people he had just met, but as a thief, he was trained to notice the small things, from body language to his empathy powers. Blaze continually clenched his fists together. He was feeling something. Gambit didn't know what. He then stepped closer to Rogue and bent over.

"I don't trust him." He whispered quietly in her ear.

Rogue frowned and tilted her head back slightly.

"I don't trust him either." She replied.

At least it was the two of them that felt like something is off.

Gambit focused his eyes on the tank and the woman in there was thrashing about. She was hitting the all sides of the tank then bumped into the glass.

"Should I go in there and phase her out? She looks like she's drowning!" Kitty said worriedly as she was about to run up to the tank.

"Don't worry, Spade, is resourceful. She'll get out on her own." Blaze said without any emotion.

Gambit wanted to punch the man. His teammate is in danger of drowning and he's not helping?

"Um, what is she doing?" Kurt asked as the woman was ripping off the breathing apparatus and pressed herself against the glass.

Her eyes may be sewn shut, but she had a wicked and malicious smile on her face. She pressed her left hand onto the glass and a blood red glow surrounded it.

"Shit, she can't be serious." Blaze muttered.

She brought back her hand and hit the glass. They next thing they know, the red glow spread out like lightening as the glass shattered into a million pieces and the water crashed out of the tank and the woman was also flushed out and fell to the floor face down.

"Fils d'un-" The woman swore in French.

"Had a nice bath, Spade?" Blaze chuckled.

The woman was soaking wet and pushed back her hair showing her pale face and if her eyes were not sewn, Gambit imagined that she would be glaring at Blaze by now.

"One of these days Blaze…" She muttered as she unsteadily got up.

Storm went over to the short woman, and steadied her.

"Spade, be careful." She said calmly. Spade tilted her head.

"I know that voice. Stormy is that you?" The woman asked as she smiled up at the weather witch.

Storm huffed at the nickname.

"Don't call me that." Storm said well naturally.

"Blaze told me it's been thirteen years, I don't look old do I? _Je n'aimerais pas savoir que ma beauté a été réduite._" The woman laughed.

Gambit understood the translation. The woman looked no older than late twenties early thirties if that.

"You look like you are in your sixties. I see a lot of wrinkles around your face. Sorry to say," Blaze smiled charmingly, "Maybe your eyes are your best bet to find a decent man one of these days." He chuckled.

The next thing Gambit saw was the woman's leg shot out and effectively kneed Blaze in the gut.

He was on the ground breathing hard on his knees.

"Last I checked my skin was nice and taunt. And you don't make fun of a woman's age, _imbécile._ " The woman smirked.

"Nice to know that you still have your reflexes, Spade. Just as dangerous as ever." Blaze said as he stood back up and winced.

"You know, you could have broken a rib. I'm lucky you are tiny." Blaze said smiling.

The woman, Spade, smiled back brightly but dangerously.

"You're lucky I only had enough energy to kick you in the gut. By the way, that was for yanking me out of limbo without warning." She said charmingly.

"You're welcome." Blaze glared at the small woman.

The woman stood up straight and squinted her eyes.

She was a decent height, 5'5 at the most. Her hair was long and it reached to the middle of her back. Gambit would have to admit that she was really pretty. She had a heart shaped face with a cute nose. She has high cheekbones and almond shaped eyes. If her accent had anything to with where she came from, she was definitely from France. Her eyes would have to be either a blue or hazel.

"So Storm, you finally decided to find us?" Spade said as she rolled her shoulder and stretched her body out.

"Blaze was the one that sent out a mental scream to Professor Xavier." Jean spoke.

The woman stopped stretching and cocked her head in the direction of Jean.

"Blaze sent…ah, nice going there, Montmorency, you actually got help for once." Spade said sardonically.

"You are the most annoying thief I have ever come across, you are lucky that I never shot you in New Orleans." Blaze said as he rolled his eyes.

"And you are the most infuriating Assassin that I have ever met. Though, you would have shot me if it weren't for the fact that Renegade was with me." Spade smiled.

"No doubt about that." Blaze said as he stood back up.

Gambit's eyes widened. A Thief and an Assassin on the same team? And if they have been teammates for the past 13 years or more, there should have been blood shed a long time ago. He would have to keep a close eye on them. A _very _close eye.

* * *

"Azazel." Spade said.

"He's probably on the same floor as Renegade." She said as she wringed her hair out of the water.

"Which floor is that?" Storm asked.

"The fifth floor is the experimentation floor. We need to get there." Spade said as she took a ponytail holder from Storm.

"And what's in that room?" Wolverine asked.

"Ghouls, of course. Essex always stocked rooms of experimentations with ghouls. This is the 4th floor. Less Ghouls but they will strike." Spade said.

"Let's go back to the elevator then." Cyclops said as he turned around.

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Uh…what that behind us?" Shadowcat said as she pointed to the four pairs of glowing eyes.

"RUN!" Blaze shouted and grabbed Spade by the hand and started running.

Everyone else followed.

"I could handle them, bub!" Wolverine shouted.

"I know you could! But these ghouls would regenerate." Blaze shouted.

"Can't we confuse them? Split up?" Nightcrawler asked.

"NO! Stick together!" Spade shouted.

Cyclops turned and blasted a red beam at the eyes, hearing an earth-shattering roar.

"Now you just pissed them off!" Spade shouted.

"The elevator!" Colossus shouted as the group picked up speed.

They all managed to get inside the large elevator before they saw the first Ghoul. It was the size of a small car. Flesh was hanging off it, its teeth were serrated and its maw was large. It looked like a deformed tiger. It roared loudly before the doors closed.

Only heavy breathing filled the silence.

No one spoke as the elevator descended.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_ROAR! I am the CHAMPION! I had Katy Perry's '_**Roar**_' playing while i was writing this chapter. 2000 plus words a day is getting hectic for me! I was seriously considering taking the day off but nope. I pushed through! I will not let NaNoWriMo take me down! You got to meet Spade and ain't she just a little spitfire and kick ass character? She's French, she's fiery, and she don't need no man! :D So her background came out and a little bit of Montmorency's. What happened in New Orleans? How the heck can an Assassin and a thief work together? Well, you guys won't find out until later chapters. XD But you guys get to meet Azazel in the next chapter. If you haven't figure out who he is yet, i wonder how you guys got through the **X-Men** world without any idea who he is. It won't be easy writing him, that's for sure, but hey, that's what NaNoWriMo is all about! The challenge! Now for the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Scarletnightcrawler: **_It's a concept that i came up with while i was reading a lot of the _**X-Men: The Movie**_ fan fiction. Then i started to watch _**X-Men: Evolution, **_and i expanded it a bit more. And now here i am! And yes, they should have delved a little more into Kurt's past. :)

**_Yuki: _ **I could say that i was surprised that you came to the conclusion that fast, but i'm not spoiling it for the other readers. But i betcha that you are wondering how Spade and Gambit are connected. Right? :P

_**ZellaStorms: **_Like i said, novel writing takes a lot out of people. Don't worry about it and just write. I believe if you just write stuff down and wonder how it would fit in a story, write many different scenarios about it. Chaos Writing works WONDERS! And I'm glad that you are excited to meet the rest of the characters. it's going to be fun writing about them! :D And I agree that the producers should have done another season. I remember watching the Dark Phoenix Saga in the 90s and I LOVED it! Shame that they didn't make it. And as for the Romy goodness, i wished that they put more in there. There should have been more Rogue and Gambit! :D

**_TAL21: _ **That's all for the _**shout outs! **_I hope to see you guys tomorrow and i hope that you enjoyed this chapter! We get to meet Azazel next chapter and it's going to be fun and interesting of how he works out! Essex is one bad, bad man. But what else is on the 5th floor? Let's hope that our heroes don't run into anymore ghouls. i hope to see you guys next chapter! _**REMEMBER TO REVIEW AND LEAVE OPINIONS! **_I'd love to hear from you guys!

_**Question Time!: **_What do you think happened in New Orleans with Spade and Blaze?

_**REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Twilight Anime Love 21

* * *

As the elevator had reached the bottom floor, it opened with a rusting squeak and there was old time music in the background.

"Uh, anyone home?" Kitty said trying to lift the mood.

"This place hasn't been used in a while." Wolverine sniffed. "I think the guy left in a hurry." He said growing.

Kitty was nervous. She had never been this nervous about a mission before. But being in a strange bunker where a mad scientist was creepy enough that it made her skin crawl. She bumped into a table and a box tipped over and a head fell out. Kitty almost made and ear splitting scream when a hand was slapped over her mouth.

"Don't scream. We don't want any ghouls to know that we are here. Got it, _fille_?" Kitty heard Spade whisper in her ear.

"But, its…" Kitty's mouth went dry.

She had the uncontrollable urge to vomit.

"I know, I know. But trust me, if you scream or puke everywhere, ghouls _will _find us. This will all be over soon. Trust me." She said once more.

Kitty nodded and turned quickly away. She would relax as soon as this mission was over, maybe a trip to the mall would clear her head.

"Who would do this?" Rouge said as she passed tabled that had decomposing bodies left to rot.

But they didn't smell, usually when bodies rot, all the gasses and such would have to be let out someway or another.

"Mad scientist. Let's hope that Azazel wasn't one of them." Blaze said as he turned a critical eye onto a stack of papers. He walked over to the desk and looked through it. Spade was by his side and poked him in the shoulder.

"Care to tell me what you are reading? I though we are trying to find Azazel." She said frowning.

Her eyes may be sewn shut, but she had learned how to blind fight and she can walk around places blindfolded, but she can't read shit if her eyes were sewn shut.

"We are, but this file is talking about him. _'Mephistopiles.' _He uses that alias." Blaze said as he rolled his eyes.

Azazel does have a sense of humor after all. Spade chuckled.

"I remember him using that when Renegade and I were in Germany…" She smiled.

"We actually met the Faust family." She chuckled at the memory.

"It says here that his genetics kept refusing blood sample 25." Blaze said as he furrowed his brow.

"Essex must've injected himself with Azazels DNA. Essex is a mutant himself. He's obsessed with powers." Spade said as she frowned.

"So he's a…"

"No. He's not like you. He can adapt to DNA that is injected into his body. But from what it sounds like in the paper you have, Azazel's genetics rejected his body. Nice. I hope he got sick." Spade said.

"What's this about genetics?" Rogue asked as she looked at a few of the papers.

"Essex is a geneticist. He is obsessed with mutant DNA. What year is it again?" Spade asked as she turned her head to the young southern woman.

Rouge thought it was really disturbing that the woman's eyes were sewn shut and it isn't fazing her. She swallowed and spoke.

"2013." She said.

"Well then, thirteen years he had crappy technology. Nowaday he's got to have better equipment, better technology, for his work. We still don't know where he is. If he blew town years ago, he left us here to rot." Spade said as she took the arm of the young mutant beside her.

Rouge jumped a little at the touch.

"Calm down, _fille, _I don't bite…much." Spade smiled.

"It's not that." Rouge muttered at the short woman.

"Oh? Well then, that's fine, _fille." _Spade smile gently. Rogue stared at the woman.

"It's my mutation. It's in my skin." She said frowning.

Spade waved her hand.

"Oh, well that's no problem. We all hit rough spots with our mutations. I remember when I was _juste une petite fille, _I accidentally melted my great-grandmother's silver set." She said as she wiggled her bare fingers.

" _Mon Pére _was very shocked that my powers came in that early. I was just 8 years old." She chuckled.

Rouge wanted to ask what powers Spade had, but was interrupted.

"Enough talking. Finding Azazel is our priority right now. You can talk as soon as all of this is over." Blaze said as he walked past the two women.

Rouge frowned at him and stuck out her tongue. Spade chuckled.

"Don't worry about Montmorency. He's just worried about the others. Let's move. And remember to be quiet." Spade said as she followed the tall man.

Rouge just stared at the two people. She shook her head and followed them.

The room was large and cold. The X-Men were looking for a cylinder or a tank that Azazel should be in. Wolverine was irritated. The dismembered and bloody bodies should be rotting and putrid. But they had no scent to it. Something was wrong.

"I don't like this." Wolverine said to the group. He was on edge and the music in the background wasn't helping.

"Spade. You said…" Blaze started.

"I know what I said. I remember Essex's cronies taking Azazel down here. I know he's here somewhere. Can't you feel his life force?" Spade said as she crossed her arm defiantly.

"No. But I do sense five life forces that are unnatural." Blaze said his eyes darted from one place to another.

"What do you mean?" Colossus asked.

"He means that we are not alone." Wolverine growled as he unsheathed his claws.

"Everyone be on guard, I think we are in for a bit of trouble." Blaze said as he lifted his hands and it was set ablaze by blue and white fire.

The music suddenly stopped and a crash was heard. Growling surrounded the group. Everyone was in defense mode. The lights flickered and the group was surrounded. This time these ghouls looked a lot more ugly than the first ones, there were three of them. They had bone spikes along the ridges of their backs, and their long tails were swishing back and forth. Each ghoul had two pairs of white eyes. They were snarling and growling. Daring them to make a move.

"Okay, this is more than I expected." Kurt said as a frightened look was placed upon his face.

"If any of you have any useful mutations that could kill these ghouls, aim for the eyes." Blaze said as bared his teeth.

"X-Men do not kill." Cyclops said angrily.

"Looks like you are going to need a lesson in life and death, kid." Blaze said.

"Spade, can you handle yourself?" Blaze said not looking back at the blinded woman.

Spade scoffed. "I'll be fine, Blaze. Just don't burn the place down." Spade said as she took a fighting stance.

It all happened so fast. The ghouls attacked the X-Men with a roar and everything went to hell. Tables were being broken and body pieces were flung everywhere. Kitty kept herself in phase as ahs was running towards a wall and phased though it. The Ghoul that was hunting her down crashed into it and let out a roar of irritation. Then it started to attack the wall. Colossus saw this and went to take care of that.

Gambit and Rouge were taking on the smaller of the ghouls, but it was very quick and with a whip of it's tail it sent Rouge flying backward into a table and she fell to the ground.

"_Cheré!_" Gambit shouted before the Ghoul tackled him.

He was lucky he had his staff out and it was in its maw, but he knew he had to get it off him before he became ghoul chow. Wolverine and Storm were taking on the bigger Ghoul. Wolverine ran toward it with claws unsheathed and jumped on top of the Ghoul and stabbed the beast in the skull. The Ghoul let out a pained roar and bucked and rolled on the ground trying to get the feral mutant off of it's back. It succeeded by taking it's tail and grabbing him and tossed him into a steel door and crumpled like aluminum. Wolverine growled.

"You want to play rough, I'll play rough." He growled as he took off towards the ghouls once again.

Wolverine didn't even hear a computer say: _"Stasis interrupted." _Behind that steel door was a cylinder filled with black water.

Inside that water, two blue glowing eyes opened up.

Jean and Cyclops were trying to help Kitty and Colossus with the first ghoul. It kept chomping on the Steel man's arm, trying to break through. Cyclops blasted it to get its attention and it worked…for only a minute. Kitty phased out of the wall and ran the other direction catching the ghoul's eyes. He took off after it.

"Run Shadowcat!" Jean shouted as she tried to slow the beast down by telekinetically throwing things at it.

Kitty twisted and turned until she hit a dead end. She turned and saw the ghoul almost smile in delight of catching its prey and it leaped at her. She let out a scream when a puff of black smoke appeared in front of her and lifted her up bridal style and teleported her elsewhere. Making the ghoul hit the wall yet again, and it let out an angry roar of letting it's prey go.

Kitty was grasping the chest of who she though was Nightcrawler.

"Kurt! Thank you so much! I though I was kitty chow!" She cried in his chest.

"Я боюсь, что вы принять меня за кого-то другого." She heard a deep voice.

She recognized the language. That much she knew. Her boyfriend often spoke it when he would speak online through Skype to talk to his little sister. A rough translation that she knew was…"I'm not him", is clear enough. This man was not Kurt. She looked up and her mouth dropped open. Kurt had blue skin. Not crimson red. And he definitely did not have black spiked hair, blue eyes, a goatee, and a scar that ran down through his right eye down his face, but he had pointed ears like him!. "You are not Kurt." She said in amazement.

"Nyet. Now go. I handle this." He said as he stood up as the same ghoul that tried to pounce on Kitty skidded across the floor in front of him. Kitty also noticed something else. The man had a tail like Kurt. This was more confusing then a twist of a soap opera.

"Run!" The man shouted as he ran towards the ghoul with claw like hands splayed.

She didn't look back as the crimson man teleported on top of the ghoul, taking out two twin scimitars and killed the ghoul, sending the blade through it's neck, decapitating it, sending black blood everywhere, even on himself.

* * *

Blaze and Spade quickly came to the rescue of Gambit and Rouge. Spade went straight towards the girl and Blaze shot fireballs out of his hands towards the quick ghoul that was trying to eat Gambit. It was tossed off and hit the ground putting out the flames. The charred flesh healing as it stood back up again.

"Damned thing is quick!" Gambit said as he took out a card and charged it.

He tossed the card at the ghoul and it moved out of the way at the last second, avoiding the explosion of charged kinetic energy. It made a clicking noise that sounded like laughter and it stalked them backward.

"Any bright ideas, _homme_?" Gambit bit out as he took out another card and charged it.

"If I had any I'd tell you." Blaze said as he put up a handful of blue flames.

The beast clicked again as it prepared to pounce at them but a '_Bamf_' noise distracted it and it turned around.

"Здравствуйте." The crimson skinned man smiled wickedly and sliced its head off with a precision of a trained swordsman.

Gambit's eyes widened at the demon like man that had so brutally killed the beast. Blaze laughed.

"Azazel! You old devil!" He smiled.

"Azazel? Hey! There's one more on the other side of the room! Get rid of it!" Spade shouted from behind Blaze.

"I'm already on it." The man spoke with a heavy Russian accent.

Then he teleported away in a puff of black smoke. Leaving Gambit dumbfounded. The man looked a bit like a certain blue elf that he knew.

In a puff of smoke, Azazel saw the Wolverine and white haired Storm, fighting off a large ghoul. He attached the swords to his hips and teleported himself closer to the fight. Wolverine was putting up quite a fight. Storm was concentrating on shooting up the beast full of lightening but nothing was affecting it. They needed a distraction. It was then that Kurt was teleporting all over the beast. It wasn't working because he was hit by the beast's tail and was sent flying backwards. The tail then raised itself up and slammed down onto where Kurt was.

"Kurt!" Storm shouted.

The dust dissipated and a '_Bamf_' was heard behind the two older X-Men. Kurt was dazed before he shook his head. There was a hand on his shoulder as he looked up. It was a crimson skinned man. What frightened him was the fact that the man had his power. Teleporting. The man looked down at him with a blank look.

"Stay here." He said as he walked calmly over to the older X-Men.

"Azazel." Storm said with shock.

"Da. Nice to see you again, Storm. Mind if I take over?" He said smiling.

"It's hard to take that bastard down. You'll need my help." Wolverine growled.

"Aim for eyes, I handle the spine." The Russian spoke as he teleported around the beast.

Wolverine roared as he rushed at the ghoul. The ghoul was distracted by the puffs of black smoke that the crimsoned skinned mutant was leaving; it didn't notice that Wolverine was so close that he sunk his claws into its eyes. It roared and screamed in pain as it thrashed about. It was hard for Azazel to even get close to the thing.

"Hold it steady!" Azazel ordered as he teleported onto the back of its head.

Wolverine growled as he pushed the beast backward. It was tough to kill, that much was certain. Azazel took out his swords and jumped over the spines and sliced downward severing the spine from the back and killing it effectively. It was not getting back up. Azazel twirled his swords around getting rid of the access blood that was on it and attached it to his hips, his tail waving back and forth contently. He stood up high and h walked towards Storm and Wolverine.

"Azazel." Storm said as she hugged the crimson man.

"Is good to see you, Друг. It has been long time." He said as he stepped back smiling crookedly.

When the others met up with each other quickly, they saw the crimson man bow to them.

"Introductions are in order." He smiled.

"I am Azazel."

* * *

_**TAL21: ** _I soooo wanted to take the day off, but i decided against it. I have no clue if this chapter sucks or not. It's pretty hard to get Azazel's personality right and some of his history. I hope you guys like it! And yes, if you guys are asking, Kurt is going to know about Azazel right off the bat. How would you feel if you saw a man(or woman) who has the same physiology as you? Wouldn't you want your questions answered? Anyways, translations will be on google translate, just go there if you have no clue what the russian said. I will be 'rominizing' a few words, but the rest will be in Cyrillic. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! it was HELL to work on! _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**PurpleDiamondDevil: **_Not exactly. Close but not quite! :D

_**Dark Lord of the X-Men: **_Thank you! Yeah, i really try to make good fanfics, i saw for profile and noticed that you are obviously a X-Men fanatic. So to have your approval means A LOT! Thank you for Reviewing! :D

_**ReviewerNZ: **_Arranged marriage? Yes. But Blaze and Spade together? Nope. XD You'll find out later. Trust me, it's a doozy! :) Renegade and Blaze are married and Rouge has a connection to them. :)

_**Scarletnightcrawler: **_Azazel is Kurt's father! You win a cookie! :D Let's see how this turns out! Oh wait…i have to write it…dang it! XD As for Spade and Blaze being together? Nope! But there is something in Gambit's background that makes it difficult to work with. :)

_**TAL21: **_OKAY! I'm going to bed! You guys enjoy this chapter and i hope you guys liked it! Like i said in a previous chapter, This is for NaNoWriMo and after the month is over, i will be editing it and adding more to it, so it's not all perfect! _**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_I want to hear from you guys!

_**Question Time!:** _Which **X-Men **movie was your favorite and why?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

"Damnit Azazel, if you have your swords on you, why didn't you pick up my guns?" Blaze said sternly as he crossed his arms, as if Azazel wasn't under stasis for 13 years.

Azazel gave Blaze an unconcerned look, his spade tail flicking here and there. He was currently wearing a blue and red wetsuit and his hair was still slightly damp from getting out of the container of black water he was in.

"I didn't think about it, _comrade._" Azazel said as he rolled his neck around, getting the kinks out of it.

"I was more worried about the fact that, 'Oh, there are Ghouls out there.' And I wanted to take care of problem." Azazel said.

Blaze tried very hard not to roll his eyes at the demon like mutant.

"Fine. At least you are alive and well old friend." Blaze smiled slightly.

Azazel nodded. "Well, when I saw you, I thought I was in Hell itself." Azazel chuckled.

Then he turned to the group that had accumulated. He noticed the white haired woman and walked over to her.

"Storm… Моя маленькая ведьма погоду. It has been a long time. You grew!" Azazel said as he took her hand and shook it.

"Azazel, it's been too long." Storm said smiling, glad to see the Russian back.

Azazel nodded.

"Now …mind telling me what is going on?" He asked as he gestured to the group of X-Men.

When Azazel was busy fighting off the Ghouls, he only saw snips and quick looks at the people that were here. Now that the ghouls were taken care of, he looked over at them with a cool eye. The only thing that sent his mind reeling was a young boy who looked like him when he was just his age. Azazel may not show it, but his tail was jerking in annoyance and possibly fear.

"These are my students and X-Men." Storm introduced.

Azazel froze as he looked over the group. "

They are children. Младенцы." Azazel said to her.

"At least someone agrees with me." Blaze said. Azazel scoffed.

"Oh please, Избавь меня. When I joined this little group, you, Renegade, and Spade, were younger than I am." Azazel chuckled.

"You are not that much older Azazel. Only 4 years older." Spade said as she grabbed his tail and pulled.

A look of annoyance was on his face as he slipped out his tail out of Spade's hand.

"I didn't realize that you are comedian, Scarlett." Azazel sneered.

Spade just smiled brightly. He noticed the stiches on her eyes.

"Essex sewed your eyes shut, Крошечная девочка." He frowned.

"I'll be fine. We need to find Renegade and get the hell out of here before more Ghouls show up." Spade said as she waved off the Russian nickname he gave her.

Azazel shook his head and looked back at Storm and then the group of X-Men. They were looking at him as if they saw a ghost.

The girl he saved spoke up first.

"You look like Kurt." She blurted out.

"Kitty! You don't just say that!" The young man spoke with shock and horror.

"Nyet. It's the truth." Azazel said as he walked up to the boy.

He had an indifferent face on. But on the inside he was conflicted. The blue skin and yellow eyes were defiantly familiar. Something like…

_ "Sorry Azazel." The woman said as she lifted her gun to his chest. _

_Her yellow eyes flashed with regret, pain, and heartbreak. _

_"Why?" Azazel said as he stepped back. _

_He almost fell over the cliff if it weren't for his balance. _

_"How could you do this to me?" Azazel said with an unknown sadness flickering across his face. _

_The woman's blue skin shimmered in the sunset._

_"I'm sorry. But you and I know that SHIELD will do anything to keep its tabs on mutants like us." She said as she started to tear up. _

_"So in other words…you are a double agent." Azazel said as he gritted his teeth. _

_She let a tear fall. _

_"I…I'm sorry, Azazel. In this world, only the strong survive." She said as she readied her gun. _

_'So last night…was nothing? I gave my heart to her and she thrashed it?' He thought. _

_The mission was done and she pulled the trigger. He didn't teleport out of the way fast enough. The dart hit his chest hard enough that he fell off the cliff. _

_He didn't hear her say the words, "I love you."_

He blinked his eyes as the boy looked up at him. Storm was worried. She never even noticed the fact that Kurt and Azazel were similar in more ways than one. In fact, if she compared similarities…she would have guessed Azazel and Kurt were related. He lifted his hand and placed it onto Kurt's head and ruffled it.

"Explanations later. We find Renegade. Now." He said as he turned and walked to Blaze and Renegade.

"Renegade is in back room. Essex had something, _'special'_ he called it." Azazel said as he pointed to a door that was left ajar.

"Renegade is there?" Storm asked.

Blaze had a look of contempt.

"If I ever see Essex again, I'm frying him to a crisp." He muttered darkly.

Azazel looked at Blaze. "I'll teleport him to the Savage land. Eaten by T-Rex, No?" Azazel smiled wickedly.

"Oh no, I'm blowing up that _bǎtard sadique. _He'll be scattered everywhere." Spade said as she caught up with the two men.

Back with the group following the three, confusion was spread amongst the X-men, save for Wolverine and Storm.

"Kurt!" Kitty said as she walked beside him.

He had a look of confusion and he looked a bit lost.

"Are you okay?" She asked her friend.

"I don't know Kitty. That man…He looks like me." He said as he looked ahead at the red skinned man.

Kurt was feeling lost. He knew his mother was Mystique. He hadn't seen the blue skinned woman for a while. But he knew he had a father somewhere. What if it was the man who was in front of him? He teleports. He has a tail. He has pointed ears. His skin is a different color. But he didn't have the courage to ask the question.

"I'm sure Storm and them will answer your questions when we get back. I want to get out of this place soon." Kitty shivered.

"What I'm interested in is why they were captured here." Cyclops said.

Jean nodded. Even she thought something was off about the three mutants they have rescued. She couldn't enter Blaze's mind for fear of getting bombarded by the voices again, she couldn't enter Spade's mind as it was seemingly covered by static. She could try looking in Azazel's mind. She decided to poke around a little until Azazel turned around and walked towards her with a cold look. He towered over her and sneered.

"If you good telepath, you would have managed to find information without me knowing." He said as he bared his fangs.

"Jean!" Storm said with disappointment.

"I'm sorry, I was just…" She stuttered out.

"NYET! Last time I encountered telepath, coma for 2 week. Last warning." He growled out.

Jean tried giving the red skinned mutant a sorry smile, but that didn't deter him.

"Does 'curiosity kill cat' mean anything to you?" He huffed and turned back around and left the red-headed girl in shock.

She didn't mean to make him mad…but how did he know that she was in his mind?

"Jean, please don't do that again. Azazel has a bit of prejudice against telepaths. The only one he can trust is Xavier." Storm said to Jean.

"I was just wondering why they are acting strange. They are not telling us anything." Jean said trying to defend herself.

She knew using her powers like that was wrong, but she felt a bit justified for trying. "They have a lot of experience under their belt, Jean. The rest of you should know this." Storm as they groups followed the Elite through a door.

"They have seen the real world and it was a hardship for them. Trying to find a place in a family, surviving on the streets, hiding away from the world, and trying to change whatever horrendous future may come. They won't speak of anything until we return home. They cannot afford to stick around and chat." Storm said as she looked at the three mutants that she would meet when they came back to the institute.

"But we don't trust them Storm." Rouge piped up.

"They are hiding something." She said trying to get Storm to see what was the problem.

"You may not trust them now, but I assure you, they have our best interests right now." Storm said calmly.

"Trust us, kids, you'll be glad that the Elite is on our side rather than against us." Wolverine growled.

* * *

Spade could hear the words that the kids were saying. She may be blind at the moment, but that didn't mean that she couldn't hear them. She took hold of Azazel's arm as they walked.

"Ne, Azazel. Can't you metamorph back into a normal human?" Spade asked.

Azazel looked down at the small woman and shook his head.

"Nyet. Essex did something to me. Remember when hit with dart all those years back?" Azazel winced at the mention.

"I recall that night. What was her name? Darkhölme. Didn't she betray SHIELD on that mission you went on with them?" Blaze said as he looked back at Azazel. He nodded.

"Since Darkhölme shot me with particular dart, it has hindered ability to…hold human form." Azazel said as his tail jerked at the mention.

"Essex thought it 'manificent' that mutant of my standards could have such unique genetics. Took more than fair share of my blood." Azazel frowned.

"Isn't your mutation the product of _Neyaphem_?" Spade asked.

"In Russia, was born to Gypsy woman." Azazel said.

"I was lucky to be born in the gypsy camps." Azazel smirked.

Spade smiled at the crimson skinned man.

"True. If any mutant is looking for a place to stay, it's a gypsy camp." She smiled.

Blaze scoffed.

"So in other words, you mother doesn't know who your father is." He stated.

Azazel nodded at the blond man with a small smile.

"Is difficult to know and understand mutations. Renegade knows more of it than anything else. If I recall, she was majoring in Genetics before 'Elite' formed." Azazel noted.

"That is true." Blaze agreed.

The group of mutants entered another room, albeit smaller than the room that they were last in. It was more organized and blood samples were in vials. Chemicals were organized from large beakers to small beakers. Papers were everywhere, but they were in small neat piles.

There were strange things in the room. Small golden balls of light the size of a golf ball were floating idly in the air.

Rouge lifted a hand to one of them, until Blaze grabbed her hand, '_Where the hell did he come from?'_ resonated in her mind.

"Don't touch them. Understood?" He said as he raised an eyebrow.

She frowned at him and nodded stiffly.

"Why can't we touch them?" Kitty asked.

"We are getting close to Renegade. These small balls of light are a small side effect of her mutation. Don't touch them." Blaze said as he walked briskly around trying to find out where Essex put her.

Kurt was near a small golden light and he felt compelled to touch it but Azazel was right beside him.

"Don't, _malchik._" He spoke.

Kurt froze and looked up at the man.

"Why?" He asked.

"Unless you want to see what future has in store for you, don't touch." He said as his tail flicked back and forth.

Kurt's did the same but in a more submissive way. Azazel turned and kept walking, avoiding the balls of light. Kurt followed unconsciously.

Spade could feel the kinetic charges the balls of light were giving, so she was able to dodge them quite fluently. Gambit and Rogue were right behind her.

"How are you able to miss these things?" Rouge asked.

"When you are trained from birth to be a thief, you learn a lot of things. I was often blindfolded at a young age. Three years old in fact, when my father decided to blindfold me. For three straight years until I was six, I learned the art of walking and fighting blind." Spade smiled.

"What guild are y' in?" Gambit asked the short woman.

"The LaChance Guild." She said as she dodged another ball of light. Gambit paused in his steps.

_The LaChance Guild?_

He recognized the name. He has been in France quite a lot, but the thieves there were in separate guilds answering to the top guild in the country. Much like the New Orleans Thieves Guild, the surrounding guilds would answer to them. This woman was at the top of the food chain of the Thieves' guilds.

"Civilian name?" He asked. The woman turned around and smiled.

"Scarlett LaChance." She said.

_Defiantly at 'de top o' the food chain. _Gambit thought with surprise.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rouge asked.

"_Cherié, _'dis woman is practically _royalty. _Remember dat I told y' dat I was adopted into the LeBeau Family?" Gambit told Rouge.

Gambit didn't notice Spade freeze in her spot.

_LeBeau? It can't be. _She thought with surprise.

"Technically, _cherié, _since I'm part of 'de LeBeau family, I hold de title of 'Prince of Thieves.' De LeBeau family settled themselves in Louisiana _trois _centuries ago. Dey founded the New Orleans Guild just as they had settle there. They have been ruling de 'American' Thieves' guild since then." Gambit explained.

Rouge understood what he was talking about.

"Then…The LaChance Guild…" Rouge trailed off.

"The LaChance guild has been around for a very long time. But we are what you Americans' say, 'Top Secret.'" Spade said as she nearly missed a ball of light.

She was still in slight shock. Rouge wanted to ask more questions but something caught her eye. It was a wall. It was cracked. Rouge walked over to it, keeping away from the golden lights that surrounded her, and examined it. She placed her hand on it and it started to crumble. She backed up into a chest as the wall fell down.

"Y' alright _cherié?_" Gambit asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist. Rouge rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the stomach to let her go.

She felt satisfied hearing an '_oof_' from him. Spade walked up and kicked the rubble in front of her.

She shouted. "

BLAZE!"

* * *

The other X-Men heard the shout and came running to where Spade, Gambit, and Rouge were at.

"You find anything?" Blaze said as he walked up to Spade. He noticed the crumbled wall. He chuckled.

"Looks like Renegade knew what she was doing." He smiled.

"What do you mean? It's only, like, and abandoned hallway." Kitty pointed out.

Blaze shook his head.

"No, it means we are getting close." Blaze said as he stepped into the dark hall. The rest followed. Blaze lifted his hand and a ball of fire ignited.

"Renegade is a strong mutant. She has a main mutation, and a secondary mutation. Her secondary mutation is Umbrakinesis. Controlling the shadows. And if you haven't noticed the shadows on the walls are moving not from the light I'm producing." Blaze said as he took notice of the shadows on the wall.

Storm was intently interested of the shadows that are on the walls. They took shapes of animals, people, and other shapes. She knew that Renegade would bend and control the shadows at will, but with her in range, could the shadows be of it's own will?

There was a blue glow from up ahead and the X-Men walked into a room with tubes of blue water. But the tubes were cracked and were even leaking. Papers and glass were everywhere, as if something angry had decided to destroy everything in here. A voice recording sounded in the air.

_"It would appear that Renegade is a hard woman to crack. I have only managed to set off emotional and physical triggers to access her precognitions and shadow manipulations. Unfortunately, adrenaline shots have lost its effect over 2 weeks." _A strange and cruel voice sounded in the air.

Screaming was heard in the background.

The cruel voice sighed.

_"I'm afraid it won't be easy it gain her precognitive abilities; too many constants and changes. That and the samples that I took from her seemed to change every time. But her Shadow manipulation… controlling dark energies has its appeal. Shame that I had to put her under today. Such a lovely specimen." _

The tape kept repeating itself.

"That is creepy." Kitty said as she huddled to her boyfriend.

The X-men noticed that many of the tubes that they have passed were more cracked and/or broken. They were close. So very close. Storm kept an eye out for anything unusual, when she found Renegade. Or rather…Renagade in a water container that looked more like a coffin rather than a tube.

"I have found her!" She said as she ran over to the container. It was hooked up to an ancient computer and a few other machines. The woman in the coffin was laying on her back, a breathing apparatus connected to her nose and mouth. She was wearing a white and green wetsuit. Her dark brown and white-striped hair floated in the water. Storm wanted to cry. She had finally found her mentor that had disappeared so many years ago.

"That's her? That's Renegade? Cyclops asked.

Blaze smiled and went over to he tank where Storm was.

"That's her." He said softly.

_"Hanna…I promise that this will never happen again." _Blaze promised himself.

* * *

At this point, Kitty walked over to the computer and looked at what it had on it.

"The computer is connected to the container. There are sensors on there that if she tried to escape, it would shock her. A few other precautions are put on her as well." Kitty said as she hacked into the system.

"Of course Essex would put sensors on her. She's practically an escape artist." Spade said as she crossed her arms.

"Sedatives, electrical shocks, chemical tests, this guy put everything on her." Kitty said appalled.

"Can you try and wake her up?" Blaze asked.

"I'll try, but it won't be easy. This computer is ancient. Like 2000s ancient. If the system crashes…" Kitty said as she tries a few codes and got into the mechanics of the system.

"Gotcha!" She said victoriously.

She managed to turn off the electric shock and sedative protocols. Now to wake her up. She found a small program that would inject adrenaline into her blood stream that would effectively turn her body on and wake her up. Sounds simple right?

What Kitty didn't know is that she had unknowingly turned on the countdown; the countdown for the base to self-destruct.

* * *

_**TAL21: ** _I'm going to bed! But thank you guys for being patient with me and waiting for this chapter. Yes, it bounces everywhere a bit, yes, it was on purpose. Remember, NaNoWriMo! :D So we got to know bait about Azazel and Spade. Some conclusions are shocking to some of the X-Men. Such as Scarlet's place in the Thieves' Guild and Azazel looking like Kurt. It was tough to work on, but i did it! :D Some of you guys managed to crack what i'm doing so…COOKIES FOR ALL! :D NOW FOR THE _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Snickerdoodle22: **_You get a cookie! :D And yes, Parent fics are hard to come by so i figured, 'LET'S DO THIS!' To be honest i had the idea roll around in my head for quite sometime and then when NaNoWriMo came along, i figure to give it a shot. :)

_**snowflakesofdoom: **_Thank you for the compliment! I hope you keep on reading! :D

_**Jasmine: ** _I wanted to try something different in this category, so i'm glad that it's original. :)

_**Zellastormz: **_Thank you for staying with this story! :D Sometimes it's the random stories that can seem unappealing, but surprises you in the end. :) Hope you keep on reading!

_**Scarletnightcrawler: **_Thank you for being Patient! :D I'm glad that the summary and the first paragraph grabbed your attention. I really try to make the first chapter AWESOME! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D

_**TAL21: **_Okay, that's it for _**shout outs! **_I hope you guys had enjoyed this chapter! It was really hard to work on and i was trying out different paragraphs to fit things in. The interactions with the characters is tricky, but it is fun! :D I hope you guys liked it! And I'll see you guys Sunday! Yes, Sunday! Tomorrow is my day off and i need a break. But trust me, you will get more words on Sunday and you get to meet Renegade! :D _**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_I would love to hear from you!

_**Question Time!:**_If you were were a mutant in the Marvel world, what powers would you have?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

_"It's waiting, always trying. _

_Feel the hands of fate, they're suffocating! _

_Tell me, what's the reason, _

_is it all inside my head, _

_can't take it no more!"_

Renegade.

Fate.

Hanna.

She thought she could manipulate the fate lines as best she could to avoid certain futures. When she received a vision of the future that her team would fail to get Essex, she knew that someone had notified him of her team's coming.

She thought she had managed to get her team to separate when they hit the cold Alaskan outdoors and ran for their lives. But it was too late. Essex had caught them and there was no way out. She knew that Spade and Blaze were under stasis, Essex would return to work on them when the need suited him. But he worked on her the most.

Essex thought her to be a simple pre cog and shadow manipulater. He was wrong. She was lucky that he didn't know the full extent of her abilities. Her umbrekenisis was what he really wanted, the power to manipulate the dark matter, shadows, the night, and such.

It was a good thing she manipulated the lines of fate just enough to get him on the radar of the Military. But that was all she could do.

The last thirteen years she had been under. The last thirteen years, she had slowly but surely manipulated the fate lines enough to have Blaze's mental screaming hit Xavier.

In her mind, she was trapped behind a constant supply of drugs to keep her under. When she awoke, _**if **_she awoke, there was most likely physical therapy in mind.

She was just floating there in the darkness of her mind, seeing visions of the future, the present, and the past. Not just any visions mind you. She could see the possibilities and alternate realities of every mutant and human in the world. When she was younger, before she was kicked out of her own home in Mississippi, she would have these intense migraines in her head that her parents would be worried that it was cancer or tumor. The doctors couldn't find anything. What they didn't know is that she could see everyone's possible futures.

Every outcome, every death, every birth. New fate lines were created everyday.

Now here she is. If she could she would turn back the clock and stop all this from happening. But it was no use. She had no idea who had turned on them. But she had a feeling that it was someone who didn't want The Elite to return alive.

She wanted to know why…but until then, she had to focus on manipulating the lines. She was drugged of course. So it took longer for her subconscious self to lift her hands and see all the different colored strings that emitted from it.

Various shades of silvers, golds, reds, greens…all the colors of the spectrum she had manipulated them into who would die, who would live, who would have a happy ending, who would go through a bitter divorce, who would suffer being paralyzed from the hips down, and so forth.

Suddenly, she felt the drug cut off from her body. She knows this because of the constant cold in her arms. It suddenly became warm. Her heart started beating faster and faster.

Adrenaline.

How long has it been since she had adrenaline run through her system? Months? Years? She was going to wake up. And when she does…there will be hell to pay.

* * *

"Um…guys?" Kitty said as she felt her stomach fall to the ground.

She had turned pale. Just as she hit the button to send adrenaline through Renegade's body, she realized that something was wrong. She quickly started hacking into the system trying to shut down the problem. But it was no use…

"What is it, Shadowcat?" Storm asked.

"There was…a self destruct code…when I hit the program to inject adrenaline into Renegade's body…it turned on. We only have 10 minutes!" Kitty panicked.

She was trying to stop the self-destruct and turn it off, but it was too late.

"Figures that Essex didn't want us alive." Spade said frowning.

"We only have ten minutes?" Rouge said as she clenched her fists.

"I don't think that's our only problem." Collosus said as he turned his skin to metal.

They looked behind them and saw Ghouls. They did not look happy. They bared their teeth and growled.

"We're dead." Kurt whimpered.

If Spade's eyes were not sewed shut, she would have rolled her eyes. She walked past Gambit, but not before sneakily reaching her hand into his coat and taking out his staff. Gambit didn't notice this until she was in front of the group, extending the staff and rested it on her shoulders.

"Hey!" Gambit said in shock.

"I'll give it back to you, _garcon_. But right now, this isn't the time for you to tell me of your status as master thief." Spade said as she twirled it around her fingers.

She was smiling. A blood red glow crackled and surrounded the metal staff.

"Azazel, Blaze, lets see if we can take them on." She said smiling widely.

Azazel was already by her side with his swords out. Blaze looked at Renegade in the coffin and noticed that it was cracking faster and louder. Renegade would be up in no time. He quickly stood by Spade, with fireballs at the ready.

Storm and Wolverine were behind them as back up.

"Hey! We can help!" Rouge said.

"You'll just get in the way." Blaze said coldly.

Rouge felt anger boil up in her. She felt like a little tag along whose powers are to just suck the life out of everything.

"Look, I don't doubt your abilities, but these things are stronger than you imagine." Blaze said as he looked back at her.

"Trust me." He said as he let the fire travel up his arms.

She didn't want to. But she had no choice. The coffin cracked and the surrounding glass cylinders in the room were cracking and breaking under an unknown pressure. The ghouls growled at the threat in front of them. Blaze chuckled.

"Spade…will you do the honors?" He said as his emerald eyes glinted dangerously.

More glass cracking.

Spade grinned wickedly.

"Aw, I would love to." She said as she stopped spinning the staff and focused all her kinetic energy to the bottom of the staff.

"_Venez á n__ous_!" She shouted as she slammed the staff down.

All Kinetic energy that she had accumulated spread out towards the ghouls and everything exploded in sight; glass, metal, paper, everything. Some of the kinetic energy hit a ghoul and it roared in pain before it's body bulged with energy and exploded. Blood and guts everywhere.

Just as that had happened, the coffin broke and water went everywhere. Shadows blew open and that was the entire signal for Spade, Azazel, and Blaze to attack. The shadows from the coffin formed a woman and as it started to dissipate, the shadow clad woman took off running towards the Ghouls. Her brown and white hair flowed dangerously as she landed the first blow onto a ghoul's head and pinned it to the concrete floor with a shadow spike. Her blue eyes were morphing between gold and blue.

"Blaze!" She shouted as she slammed her foot into the ground, sending two solid black guns up from the ground and Blaze caught them with a smile and aimed the guns as the nearest ghoul and pulled the triggers.

_Bang bang! _

Down went a ghoul.

Alarms went off everywhere in the base. Red warning lights glared loudly in the room.

_"Self Destruct in…3 minutes." _

The X-Men were in awe of the Elite together and fighting the ghouls. A few of them were suddenly glad that they were on their side rather than against them. Their fighting skills and powers…were terrifying.

Spade was grinning wickedly as she spun her staff around and using it as a lift and summersaulted her body, throwing all her weight onto the staff itself, slamming it into an unfortunate ghoul.

Its head was gone and the body suffered multiple muscles being blown out of commission. After she had done that, she grabbed a beaker full of chemicals, charged it and tossed it into the face of the next oncoming ghoul.

Azazel teleported around the room, confusing the ghouls into attacking one another and slicing the tendons of the necks in others while in mid-air, he teleported another time without his swords and hit the ground with a feral snarl.

With his metamorphic capabilities returning to him, he grew bigger and his arms became legs and giant paws. Black horns grew out of his forehead and curled upward in a menacing way. He looked like a Hound from Hell. A ghoul went straight at him and he growled and head butted it, and then bit into its soft flesh as it was dazed and ripped out its neck. After taking care of that, he couldn't hold that form for long and shifted back into his humanoid form.

Another ghoul was about to attack him while he was off guard, but Renegade ran in front of him, with a battle cry, shadows had formed around her fist and she punched into it's forehead, sending it flying backwards.

Blaze was shooting ghouls left and right, but was caught off guard as a ghoul sneaked up on him and lifted it paw and slammed right into him, sending him flying back to the X-Men. He tumbled a bit before skidding onto his feet and looking up with a look of hard determination on his face. His face had claw marks that were bleeding profusely. He chuckled as it started to knit back together.

"Azazel! Spade! Fall back!" Renegade shouted as she ran behind Blaze.

"Think you can handle the rest?" She said as she smiled from the rush.

She grabbed his bare hand and he could feel a memory forced into his mind. A patch of land outside the bunker a few miles out. The meet up point should they ever get separated. He nodded, as the skin-to-skin contact was broken. Renegade stumbled a little from the after effects but otherwise fine. She looked up at the X-men and smiled.

"Get ready to hold onto your stomachs and get ready for a little shadow traveling." She smiled as Spade and Azazel ran past them and stood protectively in from of the young X-Men. She raised her arms and the shadows form out of the ground and latched onto the X-Men. Swallowing them up into oblivion.

"See you outside, Thomas." She said as the shadows swallowed her up.

Blaze rolled his eyes and looked at the remaining ghouls. He smiled as he felt the blue and white fire engulfed his body.

"Let's go then." He smiled.

The ghouls ran at him. Teeth bared and snarling.

_Three…two…one…_

* * *

A small white rabbit was outside in the snow looking for food to eat. It was hopping around apprehensively, until it came upon a flower. It was about to chomp down on it when it turned and hopped away in fear.

The shadows of the surrounding trees were morphing and out popped the X-Men and three of the Elite. Kurt was up in a tree hanging on a branch on his stomach, Kitty was spat out onto the cold hard ground, and barely escaped Colossus from falling on top of her; She phased right through him. Jean crashed into a tree, albeit painfully, Scott fell face first into the snow. Gambit was on his back and Rouge fell on top of him, and hitting his face in the process. Storm and Wolverine simply walked out of the shadows and was on their feet.

Spade was spat out and was just barely able to keep her balance, and Azazel was falling from the tops of the branches until he teleported himself onto the ground.

The shadows around the area moved away from the trees and formed a woman figure and went back to its rightful places. Renegade sighed heavily and fell onto her rear. She was tired, her muscles aches and she wanted nothing more than to just lay in the snow. There were sounds of groans everywhere and Renegade chuckled.

"Sorry, maybe I should have warned you before I got you guys out." She chuckled.

"Yeah…next time." Rouge muttered as she hit Gambit's chest for trying to sneak his arm around her waist.

"Man! I don't think that kind of teleportation works with me." Kurt said as he tried to stand up on the tree branch, but he slipped and fell into a pile of snow, thus making more snow fall on him.

_"Bien joué, Madame Ombre. _At least you are awake and alive." Spade said as she kneeled by her best friend.

Renegade's face turned into one of concern.

"Your eyes…" She said. Spade shrugged.

"Eh, _C'est la vié. _I'm pretty sure that we'll get these stiches off soon." Spade smiled.

Storm went up to the two woman and kneeled.

"Hanna…" She said hardly believing that her mentor was in front of her. The woman turned towards her. Her had a heart shaped face and her wavy dark brown and white striped hair was still damp. Her eyes kept changing between light blue and gold, for a few more moments before it settled into a dark blue color. She smiled widely.

"Well, look at you 'Ro. You grew." She smiled.

Storm smiled back and hugged the woman tightly.

"I've missed you." She said tearing up.

"I know." Renegade hugged her back.

"Hey…where's Blaze?" Rouge asked looking around.

"He'll be here. He just had to take care of something." Renegade smiled as she stood up unsteadily.

"You left him back there…are you crazy?" Azazel deadpanned.

Renegade rolled her eyes.

"You know as well as I do that Blaze doesn't die easily. Remember New Orleans?" Renegade chuckled.

"I remember it well! Didn't he jump off a burning oil tanker into the waters to save you?" Spade said as she stood up and smiled. Renegade sighed at he memory.

"Yup. So, these are the new X-Men?" She asked as she turned towards them.

She observed them. She recalled a vision meeting them after she was submerged into the waters and put under. She was glad to have that vision after so much fate manipulating.

"Not bad…not bad at all. Can they fight decently?" She said smiling.

"I taught them." Wolverine said with a slight hint of pride.

Renegade turned and saw the blue and orange clad feral mutant.

"If it isn't the Wolverine. I knew you would be a good teacher." She laughed.

He had a sense of déjà vu. "That's what you said last time." He said gruffly.

She chuckled and turned back to look at the kids. She was impressed. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Colossus, Gambit, Kurt, Kitty, and Rouge. Everyone was here.

"Thank you." She said softly.

The X-men were taken aback.

"It's not all us, really. Like, the professor heard you guys, so he sent us." Kitty babbled.

"Well, that's good. At least you got us now rather than later." She smiled.

The peace was short lived as they heard an explosion far off in the distance.

"Hey…wasn't that…?" Kurt trailed off.

"The bunker…why would someone rig a bunker to explode?" Jean asked.

"Essex knew that he couldn't keep us underground for long. So if we all managed to get out somehow, we would still be a bit weakened when we woke up. We wouldn't have a chance to get out. Thanks to you, we got out safe and sound." Spade said as she started to pick at the stiches in her eyes.

A twig snapped behind everyone and was instantly on guard, but they saw Blaze step out of the shadows. His eyes were a bright blue before they started to go back to their original color of green.

"What?" He said as he raise his shoulder.

Renegade ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Good to know you are still alive." She said as she snuggled into his chest. Blaze hugged her tightly back.

"What? You actually doubted me? You know I can't die that easily." He said smiling slightly.

"I know." She chuckled.

"All right, let's get out of here before the authorities come and look at the mess." Wolverine growled as stalked off to head back to the Blackbird.

The Elite followed closely after and the X-men were behind them. Rouge noticed Storm walking by the side of Renegade and speaking with her. Why the hell did Renegade look so familiar? Has she met her before somewhere?

"Penny for y' thoughts, _chérie_?" Gambit asked.

Rouge shook her head. Not wanting to answer him. She'll figure it out eventually. For now, they needed to get back home. From here on out…everything will change for the X-men.

For better, and for worse.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_ I hoped you guys liked this chapter! I honestly am not so sure about it, but i hope you guys are satisfied! :D It took a lot of thinking to introduce you to Renegade in a badass and simple way. Remember, 13 years had past and they are stuck in their ages. So, their personalities are quite the same as they were 13 years ago. And i hope the fight scene was decent enough. I haven't written fighting scenes for a long time. So it was a challenge. NOW FOR THE _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Scarletnightcrawler:** _ My time zone is Idaho. And i wasn't able to post the last chapter the way is should have been posted the day before saturday, so i was a bit late on that. :) And nice choice of powers by the way. :)

_**snowflakeofdoom: **_Yes, teleportation would definitely save of bus and car fare. That's an awesome power. :) Thanks for enjoying the chapter! :D

_**Jay Eddon: **_ Thank you SOOOO much for the review. I knew it was a unique idea to work with (Then again, i have alway tried to go with awesome ideas that hopefully people would enjoy the change) and i wanted to be different. :) I mean, we've heard about adoption, abandonment and the like, but the question is: WHY? Why did they do it? That will be explained in other chapters. ;)

_**ZellaStormz: **_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D and it's nice to know that i have a few faithful followers to watch this story, nothing keeps me writing more than ti know and hear from my watchers and reviewers! Shadow manipulation for the win! :D

_**Everon Prime: ** _You are close! So very close! ;)

_**allybabe747: **_I'm glad you are annoying the story so far, and don't worry, Spade will have her stitches out soon. ;)

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the _**shout outs! **_I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and things are finally going to get rolling on the ball! We will be going a week later from Alaska and we get to see how The Elite acts around a new decade and seeing more mutants at the Institute! Surprises for all! :D _**PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS!**_ I would _**LOVE**_ to hear from you guys!

_**Question Time!: **_If you were to make a new animated series of _**X-Men, **_what would you do to it? A different storyline? More Romance? More Drama? Or would you rather stick with what there is now?

_**REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

It was an early morning in Bayville. The sun wasn't up yet as four teenagers with ski masks covering their faces were breaking into the Property of Xavier's Institute. There was still some prejudice of the students of the high school that do not like mutants. They were chuckling and were carrying spray cans as they went up to the walls.

"Huh, let's show these muties that they don't belong here." An older voice said as he shook the cans. He was about to spray on the wall when a twig snapped behind them.

"What was that?" One of the younger ones said frightened.

"Come on man, don't chicken out now." Another boy said. Another attempted to spray the wall was foiled as the smell of brimstone filled the air.

"Do you smell that?" Another boy asked.

"Yeah…what the hell is it?" The older boy asked as he stepped backward. But he ran into something. Something tall.

The younger boys were looking behind the eldest as he said, "There's someone behind me…isn't there?" He asked.

Their eyes were wide with fright.

"De…de…demon!" One of them said as he lifted a finger.

The eldest boy turned around and saw a crimsoned skinned, black haired, Armani suit clothed, goatee-wearing demon; his eyes were blue as coldest ice and there was a long scar on his right eye. He cried in horror as he fell to the ground.

"Well, well…what have we here? 4 naughty boys. My, my, hasn't your parents taught you anything?" He smiled wickedly, his fangs glimmering in the dark of the morning.

"Who…who are you?" One of the boys stuttered out.

The demon's spaded tail was languidly swayed behind him.

"Satan." He chuckled.

He could see the blood drain from their faces.

"Do you know what happens to naughty boys who don't respect others?" He said as he frowned at the four boys.

They shook their heads out of fear. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared right in front of them, startling them, the sun was rising now as the first rays hit his face in a fiery way.

"They go to Hell." He said as he raised a clawed hand.

The boys all screamed and ran for their lives.

"I'm sorry!"

"We won't do it again!"

"Let's get out of here!"

As they disappeared out of sight, Azazel chuckled.

"Never get's old." He said as he dusted his Armani suit off and walked back to the Mansion.

He had appointed himself as 'Guard Dog' as Wolverine had so pointed out since The Elite had come home. The first few days they were stuck in the medical bay, having their heath being checked out and such. Spade was to have her stitches out today. She was lucky to have a slight healing factor into play, or when the stiches came out, they would have scarred her eyelids and eyes, blinding her. Even though their bodies were in good condition, they had to go through physical therapy, Renegade more so than anyone else. Muscular Dystrophy is not pleasant in the least. Azazel walked into the kitchen to see Blaze, or Thomas or Montmorency, as he called him when they were not on a mission or out in the field.

"Cooking breakfast? Ah, Hanna." Azazel made the connection.

The blond haired man nodded. He was in a pair of grey sweats and a tank top.

"She's stuck in bed again today. Hank wanted her to rest a bit longer before doing anything strenuous." Blaze said as he scrambled the eggs in the skillet.

"Strenuous? Don't let Scarlett hear you say that. She would, how you say… 'Twist your words'." Azazel smiled only slightly.

Thomas rolled his emerald eyes.

"You are not any better,_ comrade._" He said mockingly.

The Russian lifted his hands in surrender and went over to the fridge and grabbed a fuji apple.

"There were мальчиков outside Institute. Ran screaming like girls." Azazel said as he chomped into his large apple.

Thomas laughed as the Crimsoned skinned man recanted his morning.

"Oh? Let me guess, you pulled the 'I'm Satan' crap." He chuckled. Azazel shrugged as he bit into his apple again.

"You did…" He laughed.

"You just reminded me when we were in Rome. Remember that?" Thomas smiled.

Azazel chuckled.

"You mean when I went into confession box and after I came out, priest had look of horror on face. He tossed entire bowl of holy water at me." He said as he smiled at the memory.

The frightened look on the priest's face was priceless.

"Ah, that was priceless." Thomas said.

"What was priceless?" Scarlett asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Her eyes were still sewn shut, but she navigated around the kitchen just fine; she had on capris and a large shirt that had a smiley face on it, she was bare foot.

"The priest and the holy water incident." Azazel spoke as he ate the core of the apple.

She smiled wickedly.

"Oh that, then I came in and the Priest started ranting about succubus and devils everywhere. That was hilarious. Though, _mon_ _pére_ would have called blasphemy on me if he ever got word on it." Scarlett said as she opened the fridge and grabbed an apple.

"I forgot that your family is catholic." Thomas said as he placed the eggs onto a plate next to the bacon and strawberries.

"Ah…thirteen years…I'm planning on leaving for a little bit and heading back to France to let him know that I'm alive. After I get my freaking stitches out…" She muttered the last sentence, then bit ferociously into the apple.

"I'm heading back down to the lower levels." Thomas said as he left his two friends in the kitchen.

As he was going down the elevator, he cursed himself. He forgot the milk. His wife had always had milk with bacon and eggs. He sighed. He hoped she'd forgive him. As the elevator opened, he made sure to look left and right as to avoid the younger mutants that live at the institute. They usually have danger room sessions very early in the mornings. Satisfied that there was nothing down here, he walked toward the medical bay where Hanna was. He walked through and turned on the lights. He heard a groaning noise that he could have mistaken it for a cow.

"You sound like a cow, darling." Thomas chuckled.

"Shut up, you handsome British man you…" He heard as he pushed aside the curtains and saw his wife lying in the bed stretching herself out.

"Why thank you darling, you look lovely yourself. The bird's nest you have is most becoming of you." He joked lightly. Hanna opened one eye and then the other. She blinked quickly, trying to get used to the bright light.

"You sure know how to make a lady feel confidant of herself." She spoke, slipping into her old twang of southern accent.

He then lifted the plate of Bacon and eggs and placed it on the table by the medical bed. She looked over and she furrowed her brow.

"No milk?" She said as she looked back up at him.

He just stood there stone cold faced. A minute passed by before she broke into a smile.

"It's okay. At least you didn't forget the toast…oh wait." She chuckled.

Thomas rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. He knew he forgot something else. He looked back at his wife and she was laughing.

"Oh, you are so cute when you try and make food for me." She chuckled.

He rolled his eyes and sat at the edge of her bed as she started to eat. He had something nagging at the back of his mind for the past week. Ever since he woke up, he saw similarities of three of the X-Men at the institute.

Rouge.

Gambit.

Nightcrawler.

He knew his wife had the same thoughts.

"So…13 years…look at them." He said as he leaned back a bit, looking up at the ceiling.

Hanna ate a bit more slowly. She knew this talk would have come up sooner or later.

"I know." She said softly.

She had seen visions of the past and present leading up to where they were at now. Thomas furrowed his brow.

"What are we going to do? It's obvious that Azazel and Kurt are related. No doubt about that. A blind man would have seen the relation. He was muttering something last night about Darkhölme. I thought it would have been sooner that he would be ranting about her." Thomas said as he rubbed his forehead.

Hanna nodded after she swallowed a strip of bacon.

"Well it was obvious. But I'm just as surprised of Remy." She said as she pushed the last of her eggs around on her plate.

"I know Scarlett put him in New Orleans. The LeBeaus took him in. Even I'm surprised at that. It's a good thing that they never knew the colors of her eyes though." She smiled slightly.

"You gave her glasses to make sure they never noticed the connection. You plan ahead very well." He said thinking back to when Scarlett had to be on the run for a month.

It was dangerous work being in The Elite. Constantly making sure that certain things as mutant and human relations don't get out of hand. Working for SHIELD was hard enough. It was no place for a child.

"And what about Anna Marie?" Thomas said softly.

Silence went between the two. Hanna placed her fork down on the empty plate. She had seen the young Mississippi Spitfire. Reminded Hanna of her self when she was younger.

" I've already talked to Scarlett about it. We wait." She said as she lay back down on the bed.

"Oh? Are you sure that's wise?" Thomas asked genuinely concerned.

It was bizarre for The Elite. Knowing that they had children here at Xavier's.

"They'll find out sooner or later. Azazel asked Hank for a blood match between him and Kurt. There's no doubt that there will be a match. Scarlett may be leaving to go to France to meet up with her family after the stitches in her eyes are taken out, I already told her about Remy. We on the other hand…" Hanna chuckled.

"Well, Wolverine took over the father figure quite well." Hanna smiled.

Thomas huffed and crossed his arms.

"Did you find out what happened back there?" He asked as he looked at her.

Her face was darkened with emotion.

"My sister. Irene." She said as she wringed her fingers.

Thomas stood up and fire started to form in his hands.

"Destiny…that little…" He said as he gritted his teeth.

"Thomas…don't worry about it for now. For now, we wait, and we take positions as teachers here." She said as she placed the plate back onto the bedside table. Thomas glared at her.

"Are we just going to let this slide by? Your sister betrayed us!" He said as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Thomas…I gave her a warning…she didn't heed it. I'll be seeing her in the near future. But for now, let it go. I know how you get when you let your temper gets the best of you." She smiled sadly.

Hanna hated that fact that her little sister went turncoat on her, but she knew that Irene would regret it.

"Fine…" He said as he sat back down, feeling defeated.

"Did you tell her not to mess with the fate lines that you had set?" He asked.

"No…but I knew she would mess the future up anyways. This school went through a lot. The X-Men fought against Apocalypse." She stated as a matter of factly.

Thomas gave her a look of disbelief.

"Really?" He said as his eyes widened.

"Yup." She popped the 'p'.

"We had spent a year with SHIELD trying to find him, but never managed to. Had to drop the project. Freaking Destiny." She cursed her little sister.

"Oh well. What's past is past." She shrugged.

She had learned long ago that just because she manipulates fate, doesn't mean that it always ends the way she wanted.

"So, how about those Teacher positions?" She said as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.

She lay her head on top of her knees and smiled at her husband. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, so far we haven't heard from SHILD or anyone else. For now, I say we stay here…though personally, I'd rather we have our own house." He said slyly.

Hanna's eyes glittered.

"Oh? Here? Now? What if someone were to walk in? In three, two, one…" She counted down.

The medical bay doors opened and Rouge came in with Gambit leaning on her for support.

"Oh, were we interrupting something?" She asked.

Hanna shook her head.

"Oh no, Honey, Thomas and I were just talking about staying here as teachers." She smiled.

"Really now? The Professor offered the jobs to you guys?" Rouge asked.

"Technically, I'm still a teacher here. But it's been a while since I have taught. You know, thirteen years in water, you miss a lot of things." Hanna said smiling.

"What happened to you?" Thomas nodded to Gambit; he was about to say something until Rouge beat him to the punch.

"He got shot in the leg by one of the lasers. Trying to get in my way of an opponent." Rouge glared at the Cajun that was leaning on her.

"I was jus' tryin' to make sure _mon chérie _didn't get hurt." He tried to smooth talk things over.

Thomas raised a skeptical eyebrow at the red on black-eyed young man. Hanna was chuckling behind her hand.

"Ah ain't ya _chérie, _ya swamp rat." She deadpanned as she decided to drop him onto the floor.

"Now if ya'll excuse me, I have school to go to." She looked down at him and left the room.

Gambit sighed as he got up and limped over to a spare bed. Thomas hid a grin. At least Rouge was one of those girls that are hard to get.

"Maybe next time you can ask her out." Hanna chuckled.

"Dat obvious?" Gambit said as he rubbed his leg.

Thomas looked at Hanna with a glare. Hanna gave him a look of 'We'll talk later.' Thomas was already regretting agreeing with his wife that they were staying here.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_I'm just getting The Elite to be settled into the Xavier Institute. The next few chapters with deal with them being teachers, and surprises all around! I'm finally on a roll here and not struggling with the Rescue arc (Which was freaking hard enough) and i hope you guys have an idea on what may be going on in this chapter. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about it. :D Now on to the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Scarletnightscrawler:**_ Nevada huh? Awesome! :D I bet it's warm down there! :) And i agree, X-Men Evolution should have continued, but they didn't. The monsters. And I sort of wished that they continued with the _**Wolverine and The X-Men **_Series as well. They made only one season about it! Thank you for your review! :D

_**Dark Lord of the X-Men: **_Oh yes, it was wicked to begin with! :D And yes, there will be drama coming in soon, no doubt about that, and secrets will be revealed! :D

_**ZellaStormz: **_I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! :D I thought it was pretty kick ass myself, but as i have stated in the last chapter: I haven't written a decent fighting scenes for a while. So it was a bit rusty for me at least. And Renegade is pretty awesome! I thought about focusing the fix around her, but i wanted to add more character and depth to this fic. So it's turning out quite nicely. :) And i agree, i like the idea of the younger X-Men in their teens. I would have loved to see the Savage Lands arc and the Phoenix Saga as well. It would be awesome. :)

_**TAL21: **_That's it for _**shout outs! **_I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :D The next chapter will be Scarlett's stitches are getting taken out! Drama will ensue in a way, so have fun with your theories and please…_**LEAVE REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE! **_I'd love to hear from you! :D

_**Question Time!: **_What is your _**FAVORITE **_X-Men quote? (I.E: From the comics, cartoons, movies, etc.)

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

Hanna was lulled asleep after Thomas came to bring her food. Gambit had to wait for Hank to give him the go ahead and take it easy on his leg for the rest of the day. After he left, Scarlett popped in and sat on Hanna's bed, waking her up.

"Scarlett, leave me alone." Hanna said as she turned onto her stomach and buried her head into the pillows.

"_Non!_" she smiled.

"I'm getting my stitches out! And I want you to be there when I writhe in pain." Scarlett said as she placed the back of her hand on her forehead.

Hanna sighed heavily. She wondered why she was friends with Scarlett in the first place.

"All right fine. But after, you are leaving me alone. I've been seeing futures left and right here and it's giving me a migraine." Hanna said as she pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off the pain.

Scarlett tilted her head in worry.

"Is it too much? Do you want me to get Xavier?" Scarlet asked.

Hanna shook her head and sat up and popped her back.

"No. It's just regular everyday visions. Nothing too important." She said as she yawned.

"_Femme tenace_." Scarlett said as she decided to fall on her back on Hanna's bed.

"I may be stubborn, but you are just as stubborn as I am. You don't even want to see your only son after you get your stitches out. You already have a ticket to leave tonight to go to France." Hanna frowned at her friend.

Scarlett was silent.

"He was raised by the LeBeaus…I wasn't expecting that." She muttered.

Hanna shook her head. Scarlett then snapped her head to Hanna.

"_Vous avez vu que venir, non_? You knew he was going to be raised by them." Scarlett accused.

Hanna huffed and crossed her arms. "I saw many out comes of the kid, either he was going to die on the streets, be an assassin, or in the Thieves' Guild as a lower class thief. I'm just as surprised as you are. This is a rare instance that was not my doing. I may manipulate many lives, destinies, and fates, but that was not my doing. All I can say is that it was a BIG stroke of luck that he was in the Thieves' Guild as an adopted son." Hanna said as she defended herself.

Scarlett looked a little sheepish.

"_Désolé. _I didn't think about that." She said as she rolled on her side.

"You are fine, Scarlett, I'm just wondering why you don't want to see him." Hanna said as she took a strand of white hair and tugged it a little.

"_Pensez-y! _The moment he sees my eyes, he will make a connection. I don't want to shock him beyond all comprehension. Like you said, we wait. Azazel and Kurt on the other hand…well, _je serais choqué. _Once I see them both with my own eyes, I will consider coming back earlier." Scarlett said as she sat back up.

"I'll hold that to you, Scarlett. In fact, as soon as I get out of this damned bed, I'm going out and buying tarot cards and a few packs of regular ones." Hanna said as she fell back on the mattress.

"Oh! Can you pick some up for me?" Scarlett smiled.

Hanna looked at Scarlett with a skeptical look.

"You already stole your son's staff AND his pack of cards…" Hanna deadpanned.

Scarlett chuckled.

"Well, if he wasn't making eyes at little Rouge, he would have noticed that I stole them." She smiled.

Hanna laughed at her friend.

It was then that Hank walked into the Med Bay along with Storm.

"Miss LaChance, it's time to get those stitches out of your eyes." Hank said gently. Scarlett visibly winced.

"You'll be fine Scarlett," Hanna said as she placed her hand on top of her friends, "I'll be near, okay?" She said comfortingly.

Scarlett nodded and exhaled breath she was holding.

"_Ok, je peux le faire._" She said as she got up and walked over to Hank and Storm.

"So, I hope you'll be gentle with me." Scarlett said as she smiled nervously.

_"She'll be fine. It won't be the removel of the stitches that will hurt her…it's opening her eyes for the first time in 13 years." _Hanna thought comfortingly.

It was a painful hour of silent whimpering and Storm holding Scarlett's hand in case the pain became too much, seeing that general anesthesia wouldn't work in her body for the amount of time that it would take to delicately remove the stitches. Her metabolism is too fast for her body to work it out. Finally, Hank placed some antiseptic on her lids with a q-tip and was finished.

"I do hope that your eyelid heal quickly. But other than that, you are done." He smiled at the work his had done.

Hanna had decided, in her nightgown, to get up with her IV and silently moved next to Storm. Scarlett's eyes flickered a moment before she slowly opened them. She grimaced as the light hit her eyes and had fully opened them. Hank had a look of surprise on his face, as did Storm. Hanna just smiled at her friend.

"Hey Devil eyes, nice to see them again." Hanna said smiling.

Red on black eyes twinkled in the bright light.

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Renegade." Scarlett smiled wickedly.

* * *

Azazel's tail was twitching along with the ticking of the clock that was hanging on the kitchen wall. He was in a state of calm…ish. He managed to keep his mind off the subject this long…he can keep it off for just a bit longer.

More ticking went by. He would not even look at it. Thomas was on the other side of the room eating into his food. He looked over at Azazel and rolled his eyes.

Azazel didn't give Thomas the satisfaction that he was being tempted. His tail kept keeping the rhythm of the clock.

He closed his eyes.

Not making any contact with the object in front of him. But that only enhanced his senses. He could smell it.

It was tempting…it was making his mouth salivate. He clenched his fists together and growled.

"Хорошо!" He shouted as he grabbed the large burger in front of him and took a large bite out of it.

Thomas was chuckling at his friend's behavior. He recalled Azazel saying something about decent American food, and Thomas, at his friend's expense, had decided to go out, (In more proper clothing. There was no way he would be caught dead wearing just sweats and a tank top. No matter what the decade.) And buy a few burgers for himself and Azazel.

He may have flat out refused to eat them…but in the end, the crimsoned skinned man would break and stuff himself. After he was finished, he muttered something about making some _ukha_ or _orkoshka_, for himself in the future.

"You liked it an you know it." Thomas said as he leaned back into his seat.

"_Da, da_. So what? There nothing else to eat in fridge." Azazel sulked.

"You could have asked Ororo. I'm sure she would have made something for you." Thomas said as he got up and placed his plate in the sink.

"_Nyet_. I would not put pressure on her. She had enough on plate as it is." Azazel said, silently mentioning Scarlett and Hanna.

"I know, but it wouldn't hurt. We're her friends as well. No need to shut her out." Thomas smiled as he leaned on the counter.

"You are also troubled by something else and it's not Storm or the food." Thomas said seriously.

Azazel was silent and his face went stone cold. For a moment, he saw the old war-worn Azazel for a moment.

"Ach…" Azazel sneered. "Darkhölme." He said with a bit of venom and hurt in his voice.

Thomas caught on.

"Oh. You still think she was the one who had...Kurt?" Thomas asked.

Azazel scrunched his nose.

"I've met three women in lifetime. Darkhölme was last woman I have fallen for." Azazel said, as his angry look started to turn into a silent mask of sadness.

"You wouldn't have known about him anyways. Think about it, she shot you, left you for dead. How was she supposed to know?" Thomas said as he grabbed a glass of water and offered it to the demon like man.

Azazel took it from his hand and drank it.

"You are correct, _comrade. _But if I had known…" Azazel frowned.

"You still would have left the kid alone. Our line of work is taxing. No place for children. Even though…" Thomas wasn't one to talk.

They have raised two children in their presence to a certain age and then put them somewhere safe while they were still young.

Azazel sighed in defeat.

"If I see that woman again…" He said as he clenched the glass in his hand…it cracked and broke.

Thomas wasn't fazed.

"Who knows what you would do. All I know is this, make sure you don't make a scene." Thomas said seriously as he picked up the glass.

"Da." was all he had said.

Then...

"_Bonjour mes beaux garçons_! Your favorite thief is back in business!" Scarlett sang as she came bounding through the kitchen door.

Her state of dress was different. She was wearing a thigh high black skirt, knee high red boots, tight white shirt with black tribal flower accents, and was wearing a brown half trench coat that flared out in the back. She was wearing fingerless gloves and black sunglasses. Her red-brown hair was up in a high ponytail, letting her straight bangs fall just above her eyes, and fringes had framed her face.

"I'm heading out to France in _deux heures. _I will be back by the end of the week." She said as she grabbed an apple out of the fridge.

"I take that your eyes are doing just fine?" Thomas asked.

Scarlett took off her sunglasses, revealing her red on black eyes, and smiled.

"Yes, turns out there were minimal damage to my eyes. Looks like my eyes were just too lovely to ruin." Scarlett said as she started to bite into the green apple.

"I'm heading out now. See you later. I promise." Scarlett smiled as she placed back on her sunglasses.

"Scarlett…be careful, it's been a decade since you last saw your family." Azazel warned.

Scarlett turned around and smiled coyly as she took out a pack of cards, shaking it in her hand.

"Oh don't worry. I know how to handle myself. _Adieu_!" She said and took off like a shot.

Thomas chuckled.

"She'll be back soon. There's no way that she'd leave Hanna here with us." He said as he plced his head in his hand.

"Of course. You assassin, she's a thief. Both have something in common." Azazel smiled.

"What do we have in common?" Thomas questioned, raising a eyebrow.

Azazel smiled.

"Hanna, of course." He said as he picked up the last pieces of glass and put them away in the garbage. Thomas shook his head.

"You are right about that." Thomas smiled gently.

"I'm going back down to see her. How about you?" Thomas asked. Azazel shook his head, politely declining the offer.

"I'm thinking of going out. If I can hold human form for more than half hour." He said as he looked at his red hand.

If he focused hard enough, he could faintly see his skin color and claws receded back and turn into a normal human hand.

"Good luck with that." Thomas said as he left the kitchen.

Leaving Azazel to his thoughts.

* * *

Rouge just couldn't focus on her trigonometry class. The Elite just kept popping up in her mind and she just couldn't help but ask the same damning question. Where or when has she seen them before? Her head was hurting just thinking about it.

After class got out, she was exhausted. She wanted her mind to just slow down and just take one thing at a time. Kitty met up with her after school and noticed that her friend was not looking too good.

"Rouge, like, you look pale! I mean, paler than usual, have you been sleeping alright?" Kitty asked worried for her friend.

Rouge just looked at Kitty and sighed.

"I'm fine, Kit. Just been worrying about this trig test that's coming up." Rouge said, hoping that Kitty would buy the lie.

"Oh yeah! Math totally sucks. But I'm hoping to pass my calculus exam and I would get my GED and go to collage. Maybe Bayville University. I hear that they have a great computer engineering program." Kitty rattled off on her dream program.

Rouge was glad she distracted Kitty. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone about The Elite right now. Most of the Kids at the mansion were very curious about the new residents and had seen Azazel and Blaze around. They haven't really seen Spade or even Renegade out on the upper levels. Rouge sighed as she looked at Kitty as she kept on rambling. About shoes this time? She really needed to stop thinking about The Elite. It was starting to become an unhealthy habit if she kept questioning them nonstop.

"Hey Kit?" Rouge asked as she placed her gloved hand on her friend's shoulder, getting her attention.

Kitty stopped her rambling and listened to what her friend had to say. Rouge was going to regret this, but she had to get her mind on something else.

"Wanna go to the mall? I need to pick up some new clothes anyways." She strained her words.

Kitty's face lit up like a supernova and grabbed Rouge's gloved hand and dragged her to the car.

"Let's go!" She shouted as she babbled off more useless information about the difference between wedges and slingbacks.

Rouge welcomed the distraction.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Well heres another chapter. There was a little more background for The Elite. So i hope you enjoyed it! :D Rouge is really suspicious. She knows that somewhere somehow, she had seen those faces before. She just pulling out her hair trying to figure it all out! And Scarlett's eyes has been unseen! YEA! :D Betcha didn't see that one coming! (Okay, maybe ya did. XD) The stats for this story is unbelievable! over 2,000 views, 38 reviews, 16 faces and 26 follows. I'd say i'm doing pretty good so far! :D But things are going to heat up a bit. Gambit is wondering where the hell his staff and pack of cards went, Rouge is having a migraine, Hanna's getting sick of being in bed, Scarlett's off to France, Azazel is moping, and Thomas is just trying to be there for his friends and his wife. Something is going to happen in the next chapter and it ain't going to be pretty. Please…._**LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_I would one to hear from you! NOW FOR THE _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Jay Eddon: **_Thank you for the positive review! I really try and work at my grammar a lot, as well as my spelling. Sometimes i just screw up for no reason. XD And Deadpool is awesome. No Doubt about that.

_**Scarletnightcrawler: **_75 degrees in Nevada? Shoot, that's warm weather compared to Idaho. when it hits the 20s, we put on our coats. the mid fifties we are still wearing our flip flops, shorts and Tank tops! Anyways, as for Azazel's confrontation, i have never read any of the comics…ever. I only have the movies and cartoons and maybe snippets of pages here and there to work on. All i know is this: Azazel is from another dimension in the comics. But in my story (and maybe a few others) Azazel was just born in a Russian Gypsy camp. He has no clue who his father is. Because In _**X-Men: Evolution **_they twisted a lot of things. (I still wish they did "A Rouge's Tale") But other than that, i thought it was fitting, given my limited knowledge of the comics. :)

**_ZellaStormz: _ **Rouge and Gambit quotes are AWESOME! I can't get enough of them. Every time i hear them i just fangirl all over the place. Rouge and Gambit are my OTP. Gah! Anyways, I have always enjoyed the Pheonix and Dark Pheonix Saga, as well as the Savage lands…BUT! I would have LOVED to see a Genosha arc! Just thinking about it, i wish they did it! :D

_**TAL21:**_I'm done! I'm heading off to bed and i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :D It's going to be a cold night for me, but i hope to wake up to a lot of reviews in the morning! It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside and surprisingly I get more ideas that way. SEE YOU GUYS NEXT CHAPTER! :D

_**Question Time!: **_If you were to have one day to hang out with _**ONE ** _of your favorite _**X-Men**_ characters for a day, who would it be and what would you be doing? (I.e: Stealing things from Tony Starks, going to a rock concert, camping in the wilderness, etc.)

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITNG! :D**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

The next day, it took Azazel at least 4 tries to metamorph into his human form. The first time his skin color was tan, but he still had the tail, legs, and fangs. The second time was the opposite of the third time, he managed to hide the tail and legs, but the skin and fangs were still there. He never had this much of a problem before.

Now he looked like a tan skinned aristocratic man. He never saw the reason why he should hide himself amongst the humans in the world. But he realized that if he wanted to survive, he was to adapt to every situation. That's how he has survived in the real world for so long.

He had decided to change his clothing. As much as he loved his Armani suits, he knew that it was best to blend in, in this small city. He put on a pair of jeans and a red shirt, then a black leather jacket. He placed on nike shoes to finish off his look. He looked at himself in the mirror. Looked like a punk, as Thomas would put it, but at least with his suit he would look like a mob boss or the devil himself. Now…he just looked like some delinquent. He sighed. Oh well, at least he looked human enough. Couldn't do anything about the scar on his face though.

He left the Institute and walked down the streets of Bayville. The last time he was here, it was a bit smaller. He admitted that it was a great change for him. 13 years in a basement in a bunker wasn't exactly what he wanted to do in his life. But he will adapt to it as best he could. Thomas was just trying to get used to the fact that televisions nowadays were flat screen and high definition. Hanna was amused at the fact that him and Thomas were still getting used to all this new 'modern' ideas and such.

_"Well, she has an advantage, she sees the future."_ Azazel thought to himself, completely oblivious to some people staring at him.

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and sighed. Then he turned his head and saw people turn away from him and minded their own business. Then he looked at a shop mirror. He still looked young. That was a disadvantage of being a mutant like him. His age should be in his late 40s, but he looked like he was in his early to late 30s. Azazel wasn't one to be vain, but he felt older than anything else. He shook his head and kept on walking. As he was subtly observing his surroundings, he was being followed by a group of teen boys. Nothing escapes his attention and his hearing.

He pretended to be oblivious to the fact that he was being followed and walking into an alleyway. The group of men thought that they had cornered him. He turned around and saw them. They looked like regular street punks with bats and chains.

"May I help you?" He said as he raised his eyebrow.

If they wanted a fight…he could easily get out.

"Yeah, ya see, we don't like newbies on our turf, see?"

One of the lanky kids said as he went up to him with a knife in hand.

_"Oh help me, a knife, whatever shall I do?" _Azazel thought as he rolled his eyes.

His face clearly said, _'Don't mess with me.' _But the kid didn't seem to see that.

"Oh, I sorry, I new here." He said in heavy accented broken English.

He can speak it well enough, but if these kids are looking for a fight, he could only hope that they wouldn't pitch it on him. The teens laughed at him.

"Man, where he from? Russia?" The teens laughed at him, before one of them decided to try and punch him in the face.

He leaned to the right to dodge and hooked his leg behind the teens and tripped him backwards.

He hit the ground hard as another teen took his bat and swung at him. Azazel dodged and grabbed the bat pushing it back sharply to hit the boy in the face and he went down. The next teen took his chains and tried to choke him, but Azazel grabbed the chains, ripped it out of his hands and punched the kid in the face. The teens were down around him groaning on the floor.

Then, in perfect English, "I would not have beaten you to the ground if you just left me be. Oh well, lesson today: Don't mess with Russians." Azazel smirked as he stepped over the bodies of the boys, and left the alleyway.

He looked around and noticed something…he was lost.

"Черт возьми." He cursed.

He tried and retraced his steps to go back to the institute, and he was still lost. He found himself in a park and had decided to sit down on a bench and rest there for a bit. He could easily teleport himself back to the Institute, but he didn't want to make a scene in front of the humans in the park. Maybe Hanna would see him and send Thomas after him or something.

Screw it. He was going to enjoy the nice sunny day to himself. No Scarlett, no Thomas, No Hanna. He leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes. He could feel the sunlight on his face. He didn't know how long he was there until a shadow was casted on him. He could smell the scent of poppies and chrysanthemums and popped open his right eye.

There was a woman standing in front of the sun. She had sunshine yellow hair that flowed down to her shoulders, grey eyes, and an oval shaped face. She was wearing white hip hugging skinny jeans, a green shirt, and ankle boots, and a brown jacket. The woman looked familiar…then it hit him. He slowly sat up in a languid way and put his elbow on his knee, placing his chin onto his hand, putting on a show of an innocent man.

"May I help you?" He said cautiously.

The woman's eyes then turned to ice. Her cherry red lips went into an angry frown.

"Azazel." She said coldly.

He recognized that voice and he sneered. It was more than thirteen years…

"Raven…I almost didn't recognize you." He said tensely.

She glared at him. He was tensed. If there were a fight to be broken out between the two of them, it would have to be elsewhere. But he wouldn't pull the first move. No way.

"I thought you were dead." She said as she widened her standing stance, as if she was waiting for him to pounce at her.

"I often make people think that." Azazel said as he stood up. He towered over the short woman. He wanted to scream. Yell. Even through punches. But he didn't. Because he didn't want to.

"Where have you been? You disappeared off the map." She said cocking her hip. Azazel remembered last night about Thomas saying that Hanna's little sister was the one who screwed up their mission, but he bit back the comment.

There were too many humans around. So he did the next best thing. He walked away.

He was angry. He had a right to be. But in the end, he was more disappointed than mad. He heard quick footsteps catching up to him and walking by his side.

"Why follow, Raven? I believe you have made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me." He said not looking down at her.

There was silence. A very tense silence.

"You disappear off of the radar for more than thirteen years and you show up here unchanged?" The blond woman glared at him.

Azazel stopped and turned to her, baring a fanged warning.

"What does that have to do with anything, Darkhölme? I'm alive, I'm still around, and yet you show up after 16 years in my presence? If I knew you were here, I would have returned to Russia instead." He said as he clenched his fists.

The shape-shifter looked down, as if she was ashamed.

"I tried to find you." She said almost inaudibly.

"You should have tried harder. But, since you shot me…" He was cut off.

"I didn't have a choice. You were trying to stop me." She countered.

"I offered you a place where you didn't have to hide. But you took off elsewhere instead." He said suddenly stopping and loomed over her. They were in a more secluded part of the park. Hardly anyone was around.

"You left _syn _to die." Azazel glared at her. A look of shock flitted across her face.

"How…" She furrowed her brows.

"Is not so hard to see similarities." Azazel said shrugging.

"The fangs. The ears. The legs." He paused. "The tail." He finished.

She took a step back as if she was hit.

"You can't possibly know that." She said and she clenched her fists.

"You don't even know…" She was cut off.

"I can't hold this form for very long. When you shot me with that dart from SHIELD, it was an enhancement drug. It was meant only for human biology. Not mutant biology. Very violent reaction. I truly though I was dead after I fell off the cliff." Azazel explained.

"Form?" Raven asked.

She was very confused. She never saw Azazel after shooting him. He smirked harshly.

"Ah…that's right. I knew of your original form." Azazel's gaze softened.

"Skin as blue as the oceans and eyes of glowing canary yellow eyes. You were very lovely that night." He said gently.

He could see a slight blush dusting on her cheeks.

"But you didn't know mine." Azazel said as he let his natural skin tone slowly take over. His tan skin bleeding crimson. Raven stood back shocked.

"You have blue skin and strange features, it only fair I show the same." Azazel said as he fell back into his broken language.

His fangs grew back and his tail unraveled from under his shirt. His legs started to bend unnaturally as they reverted back to hooked ankles and similar anatomy to a large dogs. His ears pointed and twitched.

Raven had a look of horror at first, and then anger surged through her body.

"You…you were a mutant as well?" She seethed.

"You never asked if I was mutant. So I never said." He smiled.

"So it's true…the X-Gene really does go through the father's side." Raven growled and she shifted to her natural form. She was wearing a black halter midriff top and a knee length skirt with slit up both sides.

"So there really is nothing wrong with…" She seethed and glared at Azazel with cold yellow eyes. "

Is nothing to be ashamed of, though I blame you for shooting me with dart." He walked closer to her and cupped his hand under her chin.

"I grow tired of talking." He said seriously. Raven backed away then went into a defensive fighting position.

_"She always did look beautiful when she fought." _He thought to himself.

"Goodbye Моя любовь. I might, how you Americans say, 'See you later.'" He said as he teleported away, leaving only a puff a smoke and the smell of brimstone.

Leaving Raven, in her thoughts and the next time she sees him…maybe she would explain everything.

* * *

Hanna opened her eyes, which was slowly bleeding back from gold to dark blue. She breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned back into her bed, suddenly tired from her fate manipulating. She saw a future of Azazel and Raven Darkhölme meeting in a park, and they were locked in a heated battle of hearbreak, anger, sorrow, and hatred, and something buried in there that is love. They would have exposed themselves to the public and things would have went down hill very fast. It was a last minute fate manipulation that took a lot of energy and a lot of pulling and pushing go the lines.

Thomas walked though the med bay door with food. This time it was a BLT with milk and a side of grapes.

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked his exhausted wife.

"I'm fine. I just had to manipulate a difficult future that's all." She smiled gently.

She would keep the secret that Azazel had met his former love today. She would keep it until the day she dies.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Okay, this is a slight bit of a filler with a little more but vague background of Azazel and Mystique. This actually fit pretty well with my story as i try to incorporate the characters into the more modern decade. And this little gem just came to my mind. :) I hope you guys enjoyed it, Next up, it's been a week since Scarlett has been to France, and she returns elated that her family is doing well. But unfortunately, Her father retired and handed the guild over to her brother! So, i'll see you guys tomorrow! Drama will be coming up. Will Gambit find his staff and cards? Rouge will over heard something that confuses her, and Kurt and Azazel will have a family moment. NOW FOR THE _**SHOUT OUTS!: **_

_**Scarletnightcrawler: **_Yeah, i wanted to have a bit of my own take on Azazel because using the 'Land of Demons' is a bit overrated for me. Plus, Family!Azazel is more interesting. :)

_**KittyWolfM: **_Thank you for the positive review! :D I really do try and get close to the cartoon as much as possible without mary-sue-ing the whole thing. So thank you for enjoying it! :D

_**Dark Lord of the X-Men: **_YOu didn't get your fight scene with Azazel and Mystique, but i hope it is better. :) As for Amanda and Kurt, i don't know how to put her in there as far as i can throw the idea. But I can try. But Azazel will have a hard time with being a father due to the fact that hey, he was quickly introduced to Kurt and he's still trying to process it. :) But there will be moments! :D

_**Jay Eddon:** _ Oh, don't worry, Rouge will be finding out sooner or later. :) As for your suggestion: I have already thought of it. :) As for my time zone, I live in Idaho. So i'm usually posting between Nine or 11 depending on my days. Thank you for Reviewing! :D

_**ZellaStormz: **_Rouge and Gambit are my OTP. That is all. :) The Genosha Arc is actually my favorite arcs out of the series. So yeah, i just wonder of how they would have pull fit off.

_**fluffsterzz: **_Awesome! Welcome to the story! :D I hope you enjoyed it so far! :D

_**TAL21: **_And we are done! I'm heading to bed now, i'm tired as hell. But i hope you had enjoyed the chapter and get ready for more drama! Story-telling from Hanna's (Or shall i say, Renegade's) side will be told soon! Going into a whole new background and telling the X-men how The Elite came to be! :D **PLEASE LEAVE OPINIONS AND REVIEWS! :D** See you guys tomorrow night! :D_**  
**_

_**Question Time!: **_If you were to join the _**X-Men **_what name would you have for yourself?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

Scarlett was glad to be back in the US. Being back home was stressful, fun, and heartwarming. It was a shock to the LaChance Family that she was still alive. She chuckled to herself. When she went to the Guild home, everyone was in a state of shock.

Her father was not an emotional man when it comes to matters of the heart. Since her mother died, he closed himself off and pushed her and her younger siblings to become great thieves. But he was still her father. And when she came walking through the door, with a smile on her face and strode through the foyer to her father's office, he had tears in his eyes.

The same eyes that she has.

* * *

"You must be a spirit coming to haunt me." She saw her father in his high back antique chair.

Lumiére LaChannce was a tall man. His black hair had stretches of grey, his face had wrinkled a bit more and there were laugh lines that crinkled around his eyes and mouth. If anything, she would have mistaken him for a younger version of her grandfather.

"Father, if I was a spirit, I wouldn't be here." She said as she walked over to him.

Her father stood up and moved forward to place his hands on his seemingly dead daughter's shoulders.

"Scarlett, my daughter, you are alive!" He said as he hugged her close. She hugged him back and smiled.

"I was never dead to begin with." She said smiling.

It was then that the rumors spread 'round the LaChance guild. Some of the thieves say that she was brought back to life by God, others believed that something terrible had happened to her on a heist that forced her underground for many years, others just believed that she was dead and gone.

The interesting thing about the LaChance family, they have red on black eyes. Her younger two brothers, or older brothers now, seeing that she hasn't aged, also has the same colored eyes. The shock overcame then as they ran to her and hugged the living life out of her. They haven't heard from her or seen her for over 17 years. Ever since she joined the Elite. Corbin, her younger brother by 5 years, was married and has 2 children. Sadly, they didn't have the Red on Black eyes that he has. But he was proud of them for becoming good pickpockets and will soon be learning the ways of the thieves.

Raphaël, the youngest brother, had grown to work alongside his father to learn the ways of the Guild, he is now her age; both brothers have black hair. Scarlett was the one who has her mother's red brown hair.

Scarlett was holding her nephew, Jacques, who was just 4 years old and was drooling and sleeping on her. Her brothers and Father were sitting at a table speaking with her.

"So…the past thirteen years…you have been in a stasis? By Essex?" Lumiére said as he grasped his cane tightly.

She leaned back in her chair as she gently adjusted her nephew and nodded.

"Yes." She sighed softly.

"But everything turned out fine. The others are fine and we are still alive." She smiled brightly.

Then she thought of Remy. Her smiled disappeared slowly. She never did tell them that she had a kid.

"I also have other news…you see, when I was doing that heist to work with Essex to gather information from his labs…he…" She closed her eyes tightly.

She remembered that horrific experience. The tests, the cruel smiles that Essex would give her when something went right for him, the pain. Oh the pain. But she took it. And she took it fighting.

"He wanted to make a clone. Of me, that is." She huffed.

"He injected me with a kind of liquid. It wasn't the kind when you get a flu shot." She said as she looked at her family with brave eyes.

"He harvested me. Took my eggs and injected them with the DNA of another mutant, unknown. Then he placed them back into me." She could feel her empathy from her family come off in waves.

Her brothers had murderous glares on their faces. Her father looked eerily calm, save for the whitening of his knuckles and small sparks of blood red cackled off his cane.

"Dad…" Scarlett chuckled.

"You are going to blow up that cane." She said placating him.

"If I knew that he had done that to you, I wouldn't have sent you on that heist. I would have gone to him, guns blazing." Her father's voice was cold as ice. She knew the males in her family are protective over the females. It was in their blood.

"So…you became…" Corbin said as he stood up and started to pace the room.

He was opposite of her father. He reached 5'9 and was stocky and muscular. He, as well as Raphaël, was kinetic energy manipulators. Raphaël was more like her father. Tall and toned, his features were aristocratic in nature. He got that from his mother.

"Yes. I got pregnant. I was stuck in that hellhole for 6 months. Essex would feed me food rich in nutrients and pills that would help the baby. The Elite managed to get me out of there and take on Essex. But he disappeared after they stormed the Labs." She said as she could vividly remember

Renegade with a look on her face that screamed pure murder. She had her shadows surrounding her and when she turned her sights on Essex, she took on a form of a shadow wolf and rammed him through so many walls, Scarlett was pretty damn sure that there was no way that Essex would have survived. Afterwards, he disappeared.

"You didn't…" Lumiére trailed off.

Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Like hell, Dad. Don't even go there. I named him after Grandfather." She said slyly.

"Him? It was a boy?" Raphaël said smiling.

Scarlett nodded vigerously.

"Yup!" She smiled in pride.

"So you raised him without telling us?" Corbin frowned.

Scarlett looked down in quiet shame.

"I couldn't come home having a child out of wedlock, especially one that was forced onto me, Corbin. You know the rumors that would spread in the guild." She said frowning.

"But he grew up in a good place. He was adopted into the LeBeau family." She snickered.

Lumiére spat out his water that he was drinking.

"The LeBeaus!" Her father roared.

Oh, she was enjoying having her father riled up.

"The LeBeaus have no right to…" He ranted on and on.

Surprisingly, her nephew that was still asleep in her arms, oblivious to the ranting.

"After what happened in New Orleans, I had to call the Marriage off." Lumiére grumbled.

"I made the right choice. He was just 2 when I gave him to an intel there. Renegade told me he was just 6 when he was adopted into the LeBeau family. Lived on the streets for most of his childhood." She said smiling sadly.

Lumiére sighed as he ran his hand down his face.

"At least he was raised by Thieves and not assassins." Corbin said looking on the bright side. Scarlett smiled brightly.

"Oh yes. He's 21 right now and he's a master thief. Well, almost. If he would stop making goo-goo eyes at a certain girl he would have noticed that I stole his master's staff and his deck of cards. At least one thing is for certain, he has a penchant for cards like myself." She smirked.

"Great, just what we need. Another one of her." Ralphaël shook his head.

"Does he know?" Lumiére asked curiously, referring silently to his newfound grandson's parentage.

She shook his head.

"No…but I will be showing him my eyes sooner or later." She said laying her head on her nephew's.

"He doesn't even know of his blood family?" Corbin asked.

"It's not like we go out showing the world our eyes, brother dearest. We have always covered our eyes with sunglasses, even at night. This kid on the other hand, he's proud of them." Scarlett said chuckling.

"Ralph…"

"Don't call me that."

"WE ARE UNCLES!" Corbin said as he pumped a fist in the air.

Ralphaël rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"I'm already an uncle." He deadpanned.

"So, You named him Rembrandt? After Grandfather? Nice." She heard Corbin say.

She was glad that her intermediate family accepted the fact that she had a son. She was proud of him, she even had a smartphone (it took her time to figure out how it worked, but being a thief she caught on pretty quickly) and showed them the pictures of Remy.

"Holy…that's Gambit! I've heard of the guy, but never met him. I just thought he was a big shot from America." Corbin exclaimed.

"Wow…if there's a male version of you, this guy is it. You said Essex wanted to make a clone of you?" Raphaël asked.

"Yes, he was very interested in my genetics and powers." She said as she gave her phone to her father.

He looked at few pictures and sighed.

"You know what this means for you, Scarlett." Lumiére said gravely.

Scarlett gave a sad smile.

"It's fine, Father. I know Raphaël will take good care of the Guild." She smiled.

Since she was a child she had always wanted to take over the guild, but it seems impossible for her now.

"That's not what I meant. This boy is my first-born grandson, therefore seeing that my firstborn daughter had him, the responsibility of the guild is transferred to you." Lumiére said.

"No, no it's fi-what?" She said confused. Corbin and Raphaël smiled at each other. "Sis, things have changed. Dad here, being oh so strict of all guild rules, had decided to change them." They smirked.

After that, Scarlett was reintroduced to the guild and there was a large party, but there were some older female thieves that were making snide remarks after the announcement.

"That's the Queen Of Hearts? Where has she been?"

"I heard that for the past thirteen years she was married and had a child out of wedlock. How scandalous!"

"An illegitimate child. That's unheard of in the guild!"

Usually Scarlett would brush off those comments. But she decided to take out a card from in her dress and charged it. She tossed it in the direction of the shrews that she so despised and heard screams of surprise. The rest of the night went without complaints.

She hadn't heard that name in a long time though. She was known as the Queen of Hearts in the French guilds. She gave up that name after she was used as a lab experiment with Essex. Spade became her new name.

'The Ace of Spades' was traditionally known as a death card.

The Queen of Hearts is dead.

Spade had risen from that death.

The week passed by smoothly and she was due to return to America. She had the chance to get to know Corbin's wife, a quiet woman, in stark contrast to her outgoing brother, but she had a strength that was hidden to keep Corbin on the ground and it turns out the Raphaël was dating a pretty German thief whose powers were to vanish into thin air. He was planning on proposing to her in December.

She got out of her taxi and paid the cabbie 100 dollars, telling him to keep the change. She had her sunglasses on and didn't take them off until she went into the living room. She saw Hanna there playing with her tarot cards.

"Playing 'Future' again, _mon ami?_" She smiled as she sat next to her striped haired friend. Hanna gave a secret smiled.

"Well, Gambit has been looking everywhere for his deck of cards and his Master Thief's staff…you wouldn't have anything to do with that now do you?" Hanna chuckled as she flipped over a card.

It was a Three of Swords. It featured three swords piercing a heart. Hanna's face frowned at the symbolism and she lifted her left hand in the air and her fingers moved as if she was manipulating puppets strings. Her eyes turning gold in the process.

"Who? Me? Well, all I have to say is that if _le garçon _would just pay attention to his surroundings instead of a certain Rouge, maybe he would have had it back by now." She smiled tightly as Hanna spun her left hand around and pulled sharply, as if snapping a string.

After snapping her hand back, she put the card back into the pile and shuffled expertly.

"You shouldn't be doing that, you know. Sometimes different thieves have different consequences." Hanna said as she blew on the deck softly.

"I know. I'll be giving the staff and cards back to him. Just not now." Scarlett chuckled.

"Fine. Don't come crying to me if he chews you out. How was the family visit?" Hanna said as she started to draw a card out.

"It was fine. They were surprised that I haven't aged though." She said as she looked as her hand.

"I think Essex put a serum in us to keep up young in those containers." Scarlett said as she leaned on her knees.

Hanna pulled out a card. It was the Nine of Swords. She gritted her teeth and lifted her hand again, this time her hand was doing jerky movements and it looked like she was making knots in the thin air. It showed a man holding his head as he lay in bed with the nine swords in the background.

"Have you decided weather or not you tell Remy about his parentage?" Hanna said tensely.

"_Qu'est-ce_? Why bring up the subject?" Scarlett glared at her.

Hanna usually never acted this strange unless…

"Wait…have you been reading…my future?" Scarlett said appalled.

Hanna flipped her hair back in annoyance.

"So what if I am?" She said gruffly as she shuffled the cards again.

Scarlett stood up abruptly.

"_Vous Pute_! Why are you reading my future?" She said as her eyes glowed eerily red.

"Why else? You know my tarot reading and seeing the futures are connected. I'm trying to manipulate it as best I can. So far, I only see you and your son, fighting. I'm trying to make sure that you don't blow up half the school!" Hanna said as she pulled out another card.

"Look, I'm trying to look out for you. You have been carrying this guilt and conflict in you for a very long time now, and you have been regretting the decisions you have made sine you decided to take him to New Orleans. You need to tell him. And Soon." She said studying the Five of wands.

It showed five men carrying long wooden poles and fighting each other.

"You have to resolve this conflict. Before anything else happens." Hanna said as she placed the card back into the pile and shuffled again.

"_Pour Quoi_?" She asked as she crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Look, just trust me." She said finally looking up at her friend, her gold eyes glowing.

Scarlett gritted her teeth. She would tell the boy when she was good and ready...but what if what Hanna is asking is right? Should she tell the boy?

"You don't seem to get it, the moment when he sees my eyes, he will make a connection." Scarlett growled.

"You will be fine…just trust me on this. You will find the words to tell him what had happened." Hanna said simply.

Scarlett gave up and left the living room, too frustrated with her best friend and headed up to the library. She didn't notice Hanna smile as she took out a card.

The Knight of Pentacles.

Hanna smiled as her eyes glowed brighter and she saw a dark red string appear in her vision. She lightly grasped it and then proceeded to split it in two and with a tug, she got rid of the left string. The right string, she made sure to mend it a little bit and it's frays were smoothed back into the string. Scarlett near future may be a bit…explosive, but it won't last for too long. She guarantees it.

* * *

Scarlett entered the library with a bang. She paced across the floor for a few minutes, her mind in a jumble. Just because Hanna could see the multiple futures, doesn't mean she should see hers. She then decided to take a seat at a window. She was scowling the entire time until she heard a voice behind her.

"Почему ты хмурый, друг мой?" She heard the Russian from behind her.

She looked at Azazel. He was wearing rectangular black-framed glasses and holding a blue book in his hands. He was wearing an Armani suit. His tail was swaying back and forth relaxingly.

"Oh, it's nothing, Azazel. Just thinking." She said as he scowling stopped. Now she just felt depressed.

"Oh? Is about certain future seer?" The crimson skinned man said as he sat across from her. Scarlett didn't answer.

Azazel chuckled.

"You act like stubborn child. No doubt she has you thinking about _syn, pravo_?" Azazel said as he took off his glasses.

Scarlett sighed. All the stress of seeing her family again and her son, and the fact of being under water for 13 years has taken a toll on her. Azazel sat across from her.

"If anything, Scarlett, you are afraid of speaking to him." He said as he looked outside and saw the children coming home from school. He spied his son getting out of the van and turning off his holographic emitter. His friends soon followed him quickly after and were laughing about something.

"You are doing the same thing, Azazel." Scarlett chuckled.

Azazel nodded.

"Yes, but I have reason. I know nothing of him. But, I have been focusing more on getting used to 'modern world' first. Is confusing for me." He admitted.

"That, and I will be teaching Ethics here." He frowned.

Scarlett tried very hard to not smile. It was funny to her; a demon-like man like him teaching Ethics.

"You may laugh." He deadpanned.

She laughed hard enough that she had tears falling down her face. After a good 5-minute laugh, her fit had died down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed." She chuckled.

"Anyways, how the American's put it, 'Bite the Sword'? And talk to your _syn._" He offered. Scarlett looked down at the ground.

"Azazel…you have never met your son until _deux semaines_ ago. I left my son with a shady man in New Orleans and threatened him that if he doesn't take care of my son, I would kill him." She said as she rubbed her forehead.

"Ever since that night, I kept thinking to myself, 'did I do the right thing?" he was raised by the LeBeau family. Which I am grateful for, but how did they raise him to the man he is now? Was he treated right? Has he been on dangerous heists? I may have been a mother to him for two years, but after giving him away, I just…" Scarlett felt her heart break.

Azazel placed a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You will know how to work with it. You and Hanna had always had motherly instincts. You will know what to do." Azazel smiled. Then he gave a heavy sigh.

"If you excuse me, I must study this 'Ethics.' I wonder of Xavier's mind sometimes." He said as he started to walk away, until Kitty came running into the library in a panic.

"Mr. Azazel! Ms. LaChance! We have a problem!" She said as she skidded to a stop in front of the two older mutants.

She looked between them and asked, "Like, was I interrupting anything?" She asked sheepishly.

Then she noticed Scarlett walking over to her. She gasped loudly as she saw the French woman's eyes. They were red on black. Like Gambit's.

"_Chaton, _what is it?" Scarlett asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

Kitty shook her head at the shock and spat out her words. "

I think you guys should see this! It's on the television!" She said panicking.

Azazel and Scarlett looked at each other before following the young girl.

* * *

When Azazel and Scarlett walked to the living room, it was filled up with the kids just coming home from school. The television was up to max volume as the news reporter was talking.

"_There have been murders in the upstate New York area, where mutants are being killed in the middle of the night. Since the President and Congress have denied the Mutant Registration Act, there has been a violent backlash in multiple communities that are against the mutants. So far, there have been twenty mutants and families with mutant children and adults dead. We going live to see Samantha Green on the scene." _A woman with pin straight blonde hair and hazel eyes had spoken.

"_Thank you Carly, what you see in the back here, this home was filled with a family that this community knows as the Krisson family. I did a bit of research and it turns out that Garry Krisson was a mutant. His wife, Haily Krisson, was not. They just had two twin boys born 4 weeks ago, and so far we have no idea why they were attacked I have asked some of the people in this community what they think of the Krisson family and they said that they would never have noticed that Mr. Krisson was a mutant. He was a family man with a plan and he worked at the hospital as an ER doctor." _The young woman said as her brown hair fluttered in the wind.

_"Samantha, from what we have heard, people suggested that it's a hate crime." _Carly had said.

_"That is up to speculation. The police are doing everything they can to resolve this conflict. But from where I'm standing, I can see that there are some repercussions from these murders. All the murders that have happened, they were killed in specific ways. I spoke with a police officer earlier, and he said that the families' bodies were mutilated and decapitated. They had also said that the families were being specifically targeted. If you ask me, this is definitely a hate crime." _Samantha said with a tear in her eye.

_"Do you think the police will be able to find this group of murderers that have been killing these families?" _Carly asked. Samantha didn't reply for a moment.

_"I hope so." _She said.

_"Back to you, Carly." _Samantha said as she walked off screen.

Scarlett had enough. She took the remote and turned off the TV.

"Go to your rooms and get started on your homework…now!" She ordered.

The room was quickly emptied out save for some of the older kids. Kurt, Remy, Rouge, Piotr, and Kitty were still in the room. Unfortunately for Scarlett, Remy had noticed her eyes. He was shocked into silence. Scarlett turned to Azazel, facing the group, and spoke.

"Azazel, let Hanna and Thomas know. We have a problem." Scarlett said as she rubbed her forehead.

"Da." He affirmed and left the room in a puff a smoke.

Scarlett closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

_"This day is getting better and better." _She thought sarcastically.

She's suffering from jet lag, Hanna's predictions and now these murders. It was a bit much to take for the French mutant.

"Um…Ms. Scarlett…what's going to happen to us." Kitty asked as she stepped closer to her tall boyfriend.

In turn, he placed his arm around her shoulder comforting her. Scarlett looked up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Hanna will be doing something. I'm going to let Xavier know about what's going on." She said as she passed the group.

"For now, don't worry about it." Scarlett said as she left the room. She didn't notice Remy following close behind.

* * *

When the short she-thief turned around and looked at the group of kids that surrounded him, he thought he was seeing things. She had red on black eyes. His _Tante _Mattie always says to never believe in coincidences. This just seems to be very much like one. She ordered the kids go to their rooms and work on their homework. He had to stop himself from stumbling backwards. He still had his pride.

"I'm going to let Xavier know what's going on." Scarlett said as she left.

Remy then followed he soon after, slipping away from Rouge's side.

He followed her. He wanted to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light. But why does she have his eyes? The short woman then turned on her heel and looked up at him with a look that could kill.

"May I help you, _garçon_?" She said as she raised an eyebrow.

He had no words. Just looked at her eyes. They were the same as his. Red on black.

"Y' eyes." He said quietly, still a little shocked.

She looked surprised and reached to her face and sighed.

"I thought I had my glasses on." She muttered.

"Why do y' have _mes yeux_?" He questioned.

Scarlett gave the tall boy a sad smile.

"You haven't thought of it yet, _hien_?" She said gently.

She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Well, who else would have my eyes? _Si je me souviens bien_, genetics from a parent usually get passed to the offspring." She said bluntly as she cocked her hip out.

Remy took a step backwards with glowing eyes of anger.

"_Quoi?_" He said with shock.

She stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder. His thoughts were running through his mind at the speed of light if it is even possible. She then lifted her other hand and in that hand was his deck of cards.

"Now…" She stepped back.

"Usually I use nails, or small daggers. That was when I wasn't captured by Essex the first time. I moved onto cards due to that fact that I couldn't carry weapons on planes, I did findother ways to do that, but cards were more efficient." She said as she shuffled the deck expertly.

Then she stopped and looked up at him.

"You want to know why I have such special eyes." She smiled.

"It runs in my family. The LaChance family doesn't show their eyes during jobs or even around town. We value our identities very much. And use our powers sparingly." She said as the deck glowed a blood red color. She then looked at him.

"You have the same power as I do." She said as she pulled in the charge.

She handed the deck to him and he took it slowly from her hand.

"If you want to talk with me, I'll be in the library. _Je vous verrai bientôt, mon fils_." She said as she left him in the hallway.

He was stunned where he stood.

He saw her disappear into another hall. Why did he feel so depressed? He closed his eyes tightly and reigned in his emotions and gritted his teeth.

She called him _son. _

Who the hell does this woman think she is?

He will be getting his answers soon.

And he wanted to make a phone call.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Gosh dang it Scarlett and Remy! I did not intend for both of you to take over not just one chapter, but i will be continuing this chapter in the next one! Seriously! The fic does not revolve around you! *Sigh* I wonder sometimes. But hey you guys got the chapter you wanted! Remy is a bit shellshocked and he wants answers. Who is he making a call to? And Scarlett in the next chapter will be showing a side that is a bit unexpected. Then we have Hanna and Blaze. Whew! Things are going to heat up due to the murders of mutants. Hanna has an idea of why, the question is how did it get to that point? Who is killing the mutants and their families? Backgrounds will be showing up, pasts will be revealed and Some sort of comedy will come up in later chapter, meaning Azazel will be meeting someone that Kurt Knows, and Azazel wants to punch Blaze to the ground. _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Scarletnightcrawler: ** _You were close! But hey we have the next chapter to work on! :D

**_lilywhitlockhaletheblackrose: _**Oh yes, much drama is ensuing right now. Things are heating up and it will be rough. Gambit and Scarlett will be butting heads quite a bit. and thank you! I had fun at my football game!

_**Jay Eddon: ** _Sorry for making you cry, trust me, I though that it would be finished, but nope. Scarlett and Gambit decided to take over this chapter. XD LOL so i hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D

_**TAL21: **_Okay! Thankyou for enjoying this chapter! BTW Scarlett was speaking French with her family and such at the beginning. it's when she's in america i would have her speak french and it is _italicized, _same with Gambit. Anyways, HAVE A GOOD NIGHT! _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE! :D **_See you guys next chapter!

_**Question Time!: **_If you had the chance to live in the X-Men world, would you be a mutant or human? If so, what faction would you be in? (I.E: X-Men, SHEILD, Avengers, etc.)

_**REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

As Gambit was on his bed, he decided to call Henri to see if there was anything about a woman by the name of Scarlett LaChance. He breathed a sigh of relief that it was Henri and not Jean-Luc.

"_Bonjour. _This is Henri LeBeau speaking." He heard the familiar voice of his older brother.

"Henri… _J'ai besoin d'une faveur_." He asked.

"_Quoi_? Th' great Remy LeBeau 's askin' for _l'aide de son grand frère._?" He heard him say over the line.

Remy couldn't help but smile.

"_Oui, oui, _I need some information." Remy asked as he used his other hand to take out a deck of cards and shuffled them one handed.

"Information, _hien? _Y' are lucky I'm in de archives right now. Wha'cha wan' me t' look f'r?" Henri asked.

"Scarlett LaChance." He asked stonily as he placed the deck of cards down.

He heard silence on the other line.

"LaChance? As in, 'Queen Of Hearts' LaChance?" Henri said shocked.

"Y' heard of her?" Remy asked.

But Scarlett went by 'Spade'. Not 'Queen of Hearts'.

"_Oui. _Of course! _Pére _would tell m' 'bout de 'Queen Of Hearts' when I was young." Henri said as it sounded like he was trying to sort through papers.

"Oh? What do y' know?" Remy asked.

"De Queen of Hearts 's a Master Thief. Sh' would break into Fort Knox and no' trace of 'er. Save f'r de Queen of Hearts card that she left behind. I t'ink _Pére _was in an arranged marriage wit' 'er back den." Henri said, and then he mumbled something about young thieves not putting away books properly.

"Arranged marriage?" Remmy asked confused.

"Ah-ha! Found it! _Grandpére_'s Journal! H' alw'ys had somet'ing written in 'ere." Henri said triumphantly.

"What else did _pére _tell y' about dis arranged marriage?" Remy asked.

"Oh, well, _Grandpére _and the leader 'f de LaChance guild were in a contract that 'f de guilds were threatened, dey would help each other out. Dey thought at de time a marriage would strengthen de guild, but den problems came up durin' Mardi Gras an' involved an oil tanker being blown up. De LaChance guild den said dat dey would still help out, but de marriage was off." Henri said as the sound of flipping pages was heard.

"Wha' kind of problems?" Remy asked curiously.

"Assassin problems! I just turned to a page, an' it said dat der was an Assassin dat was hired to kill de Queen Of Hearts…went by de name of…_merde, _de name is illegible. Anyways, Scarlett LaChance was with a couple of oth'r people. A woman with white stripes in her hair and a man who seemed to have red skin. Dat was de last time de guild had saw dem. _Pére _said he met h'er a couple times after a couple of years, but dat was all I can find." Henri said as the sound of a book closed on the line.

"Dat's it? No more information?" Remy asked confused.

"Well, Scarlett LaChance isn't really well known. The strange t'ing is, she always covered 'er eyes. No one in de guild knows of 'er eyes…'cept maybe _tante _Mattie." Henri speculated.

"_Tante _Mattie_? _Does she know anyt'ing'bout Scarlett LaChance?" Remmy asked.

"I'll ask 'er, _petite freré. _Den I'll give y' a call back. _Desole _for de limited information." Henri apologized.

" 'Tis fine, Henri. _Merci._" Remy said thankfully.

"Hey, just a heads up. Bella is wondering when y may be headin' back ta New Orleans. She's driving m' an' Merci crazy with 'er questions." Henri said dramatically.

"I won' be coming down anytime soon, Henri." Remy said as he stood up.

"_Adieu." _He said to Henri.

"_Adieu, petite freré._" Henri said as the line buzzed.

Remy put his phone on his desk. He managed to get some sort of information from Henri. But if his _Tante _Mattie knew LaChance…he wanted more information. He was going to have to get more information from the source himself.

Scarlett LaChance.

* * *

Scarlett fell onto her bed after letting Xavier know of what had happened to the mutants and their families in the uptown New York Area. Xavier was disturbed by the fact and had asked her if she and Blaze would be co-teachers with Logan to work with the children and teens in the Institute. She told him that she would think about it. As she walked back to her room, she felt such a heavy weight on her heart. Seeing her son in the hallway with such an angry expression, she wanted to fall to her knees, but her pride as a thief wouldn't let her.

She could feel the tears come to her eyes. She knew she forgot to put on her sunglasses. She felt a headache coming on and she closed her eyes for a nap. But as she did so, a little tune came to her mind.

_"__Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,_

_ Dormez vous? Dormez vous? _

_Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines_

_ Ding Ding Dong, Ding Ding Dong_."

* * *

_Scarlett was up early in the morning, caring for her 8 month old son. She was wearing levis and a oversized t-shirt, with bright fuzzy slippers that she got from a thrift store. Hey, just because she was a theif, doesn't mean she steals all the time. Currently as of right now, the Elite are in hiding._

_ Unfortunately, something went bad on their radar and SHIELD had the audacity to move them to California. _

_California.  
_

_The Golden State._

_"Freaking California." Scarlett frowned. _

_There wasn't anything that was that bad about California, she just didn't like being near the Hollywood part of it all. At least SHIELD has them hiding out in the suburbs. She took the baby bottle out of the pot of water and tested it on her tongue. It was just the right temperature for her son. She spoke French around her son quite a bit, not wanting him to speak English just yet._

_"Remy! J'ai votre bouteille prêt pour ..." She trailed off. _

_Not seeing her son anywhere near the high chair he was on. She dropped the bottle and frantically searched diligently for her son. _

_"Remy! Remy! Où êtes-vous?" She shouted. _

_She looked in every room of the one floor home. She checked the Living room, the family room, and a few of the bedrooms. She couldn't fin her son anywhere. She panicked. _

_"Remy!" She shouted as she went into a small room that served as a library. _

_She saw Azazel with the red-on-black eyed baby, giggling cutely as he was trying to catch the tail of the crimson skinned mutant. _

_"You found him!" She cried as she went over to her son. _

_She kneeled on the floor and pouted at the chubby baby. _

_"I not find him. He found me. Then proceeded to bite tail." Azazel frowned, as he had to gently pry the spaded tail out of the infant's hand. _

_Scarlett giggled and spoke to the baby as she gently placed him into her lap._

_ "Desole, Azazel. I was just warming up his bottle when he got out of his high chair. The little sneak." She cuddled her son. _

_His happy gurgles as he was still focused on the tail that was on the floor. _

_"Hmph, he may be as much thief as you are." Azazel chuckled. Scarlett rolled her eyes. _

_"Scarlett, I think you are missing this." Scarlett heard the southern voice of her best friend and greatest ally, Hanna, or often known as Renegade. _

_The wavy dark brown and white striped haired woman came into the library with bottle in hand. She was wearing levis as well but instead of a shirt, she wore a yellow and green tank top. _

_"Here you go." Hanna said as she handed off the bottle to Scarlett._

_"Merci, Hanna. This little guy is becoming an handful." Scarlett sighed._

_ She did a lot with the baby she had. He would wake up at 3 in the morning like clockwork, cry for an hour, diaper change in another hour, and want food at 5. She would be up all night, but she did so with dignity. She is a single mom, and She will take it with pride, damn it. Hanna would offer to help take the night shifts to help her out with Remy, but Scarlett, being stubborn, said no. _

_"He is my child. He is my responsibility." She had said to Hanna one to many times. _

_Remy's little eyes lit up as the sight of the bottle and hastily reached out for it and making little pouting sounds. _

_"What an eager kid." Hanna said as Scarlett fed her son. _

_"My brothers were the same way, Hanna, mais il n'était pas en désordre comme ils étaient." Scarlett said as she propped her son on her arms._

_Hanna chuckled. _

_"Well, you are doing pretty well so far. I say you get 'Mother of the Year.'" Hanna smiled. _

_"Yes, because we all know how great a mother Devil Eyes is." A British voice carried through the room. _

_Thomas Montmorency came into the room. He was dressed in everyday clothing, the addition of gloves were on his hands. He had that cocky smirk on his face and strode over to the group that had conglomerated in the library. _

_"At least I'm a better mother than yours, she didn't even teach you manners." Scarlett snapped back. _

_"My good manners only gravitate towards ladies. And you Scarlett, are not a lady." Thomas bantered, thinking he had the upper hand. _

_"Oh, I'm not a lady…I'm a woman." She smirked. _

_For the moment, Thomas was dumbfounded. He didn't have a comeback for that one. _

_"Uh-huh. Scarlett: One. Thomas: Zero." Scarlett quipped. _

_Hanna laughed at the assassin and thief. _

_"Okay you two, put aside your rivalry for a bit. I think someone is tired." Hanna pointed out. _

_Scarlett looked down at her son and he was starting to get fussy and wiggly. He kept rubbing his eyes. _

_"Yup. Mon fils is tired. He was up all night." Scarlett said sighing._

_ She got up with her son in arms and headed out of the library. _

_"See you later. I won't be awake until 5 in the evening." Scarlett chuckled._

* * *

_"Mére!" _

_Scarlett turned sharply around as she saw her 1 and a half year old son shouted and reached out his arms to be picked up. _

_Scarlett's face light up like fireworks and grabbed her Polaroid camera. She took a picture of her son and placed the picture on the table top before swooping in and hugged her son close to her. _

_"Bonne! Hanna! Mon fils vient de dire son premier mot!" Scarlett said in glee. _

_"He said his first word!" Scarlett had so much joy; she thought her heart would burst. _

_"I heard." Hanna said as she was cleaning the kitchen up. _

_The men had the turn today to make dinner and it turned into a disaster area. She was still working on the oven. Hanna looked at Scarlett with a bright smile. "I'm going to teach him Frére Jacques next!" Scarlett said as she sat down on the floor (that is cleaned up) and Scarlett looked into her son's eyes and gently took his hands and moved them along with the song._

_"Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,_

_Dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ?_

_Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!_

_Ding, daing, dong. Ding, daing, dong."_

_She heard the giggles from her son as she kept singing the song over and over, but she never noticed the look on Hanna's face of happiness turning into sadness as her eyes turned gold. _

_Scarlett never noticed. _

_She was too engrossed in her son's giggling and smiling that she was oblivious to the outside world, and focused on her son, who **is** her world._

* * *

_Scarlett's eyes turned murderous and glowing. She tossed cards at the Assailants that had come after her. _

_The Marauders. _

_Somehow, Essex had found her in California. A bounty on her head, and they wanted her son. She left Remy back with Hanna as Scarlett laid false trails over the country. Even popping over to Japan to shake them off. It was no use. _

_Arclight had a grin on her face as she punched the ground, shockwaves heading towards her. Scarlett took her staff and gathered enough energy in her body that her nose started to bleed. She slammed the tip of the staff into the ground, blowing up everything around her in sight. She was thrown back into a tree and she let out a shout of pain._

_She coughed and coppery blood trickled out of her mouth. She had tears going down her face. She let out a choked sob. She shakily got up onto her feet and turned tail. No doubt that Arclight won't be getting up soon, but Scarlett was in pain. _

_She had lacerations on her body, a dislocated arm, possible broken ribs, and a twisted foot. She limped, but she kept going. She was **never **going to let Essex use **HER **son as a pawn in his sick twisted game. He has sent low-level thieves to kidnap her son once. The thieves that she had caught up with, she made sure that they were punished accordingly. _

_No one takes a member of the LaChance Family, and get's away with it. That was when she begged her team to help her leave false trails. She had a brilliant idea. She would take her son to New Orleans. It was the only place that Essex had never checked. It was official. She needed to go somewhere safe first then make some calls. She knew of only one intel that she knew was from her Guild that can take care of her son. _

_More tears flooded down her face. _

_When she had Remy, she promised him that she would raise him to be a great thief and man worthy of the LaChance family name…now…that dream and promise was shattered._

_She kept on limping. She was low on her arsenal. She leaned on her staff for support. She was down to three cards, one dagger, and a few nails. She remembered begging Hanna to manipulate the future enough so that she could keep her son. She even said that she would break away from The Elite to raise him somewhere in the world that would be safe from Essex. Hanna had a look on her face that showed pain. _

_"Even if I could make that future work, it's impossible. I have tried that before. You know a metal cable that can only get stretched so far before it snaps back at you…and rips you to shreds." Hanna had said. _

_Scarlett had cried silently for many nights while her son was sleeping. He had turned two three months ago. She tripped and fell to the ground. She could feel the dirt scratch into her hands. Blood and tears mixed together. _

_"Spade!" _

_She heard someone up ahead. She looked up with bleary eyes and saw Renegade running to get to her. She jumped at her and as she connected with her body, the shadows surrounded them and teleported them out of the dark forest and into safety._

* * *

_It was a rainy dark night. She never told the others where she was going, (Hanna might have an idea, she can see the future after all.) She was in the slums of New Orleans. _

_She was meeting up with Fagen. He was a high-level thief, who acted lower level. He preferred it that way. Fagen was basically the LaChance guild's informant; he would basically take in orphans and others and teach them how to survive on the streets, if they are lucky, the Thieves Guild would take them in. Tears were falling down her eyes and she held her sleeping child to her body, making sure he was still warm. She really didn't want to do this. She wanted to run away to Africa if that was the case and raise him, but she was still be hunted down. _

_She went near an abandoned warehouse and knocked on the doors three times and then two short raps. The door opened up and there was Fagen. He was an old man. Hunched over and dressed dirty, with yellowed teeth and a sneer. That was his disguise. She walked in and faced him. _

_"Fagen." She said as she held her child closer to her body._

_"Miss Scarlett…nice to see de heir of de LaChance Guild. Y' must be desperate to come to m'." He said smiling mockingly. _

_Her eyes glowed dangerously. _

_"I came here to make sure mon fils will not be killed. This is his chance to survive." She hissed as she shifted the weight of the baby bag on her shoulders. _

_"Yes, yes, don' worry, princess, I'll make sure he won' gets killed." Fagen said nonchalantly. _

_"You better. Because you know what would happen if I find out." She smiled chillingly. _

_Fagen's relaxed stance suddenly tensed. _

_"Wha' are y'? An Assassin?" Fagen said with a slight fear in his voice. _

_"Maybe, but I will kill you if anything bad happens to him. Do you understand?" She said still smiling. _

_Fagen shivered and nodded. He then held out his arms for the receiving of her son. She looked down at his peaceful state; she was giving him up to save him. One day…she will come back for him. She gently kissed his forehead before reluctantly handing him over. Fagen was holding the child as if he was a glass item. She placed the baby bag down by him and nodded at him, the tears still streaming down her face. Her throat was tight and she didn't want to leave Remy with this low-life. _

_"Remember Fagen, anything happens…I will know." She said trembling. _

_Fagen gave her a look of pity. _

_"Yeah, yeah, go. I'll take real good care of 'im." He said gruffly. _

_Scarlett turned away and headed to the doors. She stopped at the opening and looked out in the rain. If she looked back, she wouldn't have the guts to leave her son on the streets. She let out a silent sob and ran. She ran as if her life had depended on it. She needed out of New Orleans. She was never coming back until all was clear with her team._

_The rain came down even more. The droplets were crashing onto her. Her thoughts went back to Remy. _

_'Was he cold when I gave him to Fagen?'_

_'Will he eat enough?' _

_'Will he get by?'_

_'Will he have a better family?' _

_'A better mother?' _

_All these thoughts ran through her mind as she ran all the way to the airport. If she came across The Marauders now, she was done for. Her heart ached and she tripped, falling painfully, onto the gravel and skinned her hands and knees. She cried. She cried loudly into the night. Grieving at that fact that she gave away her son. She sobbed and pressed her hands to her eyes. _

_She would never forgive herself._

* * *

Scarlett woke up on her bed and sat up abruptly. She could feel something wet on her face. Tears? Where are there tears on her face? She left her bedroom to go to the bathroom and saw her eyes. They were puffed up and she couldn't stop crying; all that pain and all that heartbreak.

She knew why she was cold to Remy earlier. She didn't want to feel anything. She wanted control. All those memories came rushing back to the forefront of her mind. A fresh wave of tears ran down her face. She didn't cry out or sob; she just let her tears out. She gripped the counter tightly. She would explain everything to him. She will tell him everything if he asks.

She chuckled bitterly. She knew what he felt. Anger and frustration.

She felt inside of her pockets and she still has his pack of cards and his master's staff. She would give them back. But it won't be easy.

She cleaned up her face and looked herself in the eye and spoke,

"_Il est votre fils Scarlett ... même s'il ne veut pas vous écouter et même vous renier, il est toujours votre fils_."

She took a deep breath and headed to the library.

She was a LaChance.

If her namesake has any luck, she would need it.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Son of a- **_FUS RO DA! *Lasers go everywhere*_ ** Okay…i think i'm done screaming now…i will not let NaNoWriMo kick my butt. Seriously, it really is kicking my butt here…But i'm not giving up! So more of Scarlett and Gambit's past is revealed to you guys (What the hell happened in New Orleans all those years ago?) I literally had tears coming-out of my eyes as i was writing Scarlett's past. Guess what, looks like i'm gonna have to make a good length of chapters between the parents and the children. I never thought that Scarlett and Gambit would take up THREE CHAPTERS! SHOW STEALERS! Anyways, I really hoped you liked this chapter! I worked pretty hard on this chapter and i hope it satisfied you! I had to look back on some of the information for Gambit's background (Let's face it, he has many), so i hoped that it was satisfactory for you! Anyways, things are going well for this story and things are going to be awesome! Now onto the **_SHOUT OUTS!:_**

**_Yuki: _**Wow! That's actually a really interesting opinion you have there, and i accept it! XD Now i will explain a little bit here. Scarlett was nonchalant, as you put it, to Remy, because she was trying to not be a mess. Scarlett hardly ever breaks down unless she has been pushed to the breaking point. Meeting her son again in that Hall, she made sure to act as chill as possible. Anyways, thank you for your Review! :D

_**lilywhitlockhaletheblackrose: **_Oh yes, there will be *Spoilers* and *Spoilers*. Trust me, i'd rather work on Sexy and charming Gambit, rather than angry Gambit. I do real well with sexy and charming men, emotional, not so much. So this is a challenge for me. As for Scarlett's interactions with the Elite Members, i have to include them in, they are a big part of her life. As for Belladonna, she will be coming up in passing. He left New Orleans to get away from being a tool by both guilds basically. Thank you for reviewing! :D

_**NZReviwer:**_ Hehe…a coincidence huh? Well yeah, it's cliche in a way, but i like the idea. I haven't seen it being used before so why not give it a shot. As for Logan and the others, they will be coming along quite soon. Trust me, it's going to be big! Thank you for Reviewing! :D

**_ZellaStormz: _ **Yeah, i didn;t want Scarlett to be all, 'Hey BTW i'm ur mom!' Yeah no…i don't go that way. Things are going to be interesting in the next chapter.

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the** _Shout Outs! _ **I hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter! :D The next one is the big moment! What is going to happen between mother and son!? It's going to be explosive and dangerous! Let's just hope that the library can sustain damage at least! Did you like it? Did you hate it? _**LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE! :D **_See you next chapter!**  
**

_**QUESTION TIME!: **_Why did you decide to read this story? (Ie: Was it the summary? The Plot? The Characters? The Questions?) And Why?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

Gambit walked into the library. On the way there, he asked himself a question,

_"Why did she wait until today to tell me?" _

This only mad him angry. She has known him for three weeks and she had decided to tell him today? He clenched his fists as he stopped in front of the library's doors, but as he did so, his anger faltered. His empathy was picking up something behind those doors. He shook it off as he walked through the doors. The feelings were stronger as he weaved his way through the dim lit library. It was self-hate. He knew those feelings well.

The self-hate was mixed with sorrow, and maybe even a bit of fear? But something else was there. He just couldn't pinpoint it. As he passed a bookcase, he saw, at a table, Scarlett. She was looking at something that is in her hand.

He stealthily walked over to her side and stood there. She didn't look up until she placed what ever she was looking at facedown and looked up. She smiled at him.

"Well, take a seat, I know for a fact that you have a lot of questions." She said as she placed an elbow on the table and placed her head in her hand.

She acted cockily, even confidant, but he could feel the self-hatred and sorrow coming off of her in waves. He shrugged the feelings away.

"I'd rather stand." He said coldly as he moved to the other side of the table.

Silence went between them.

Then, "Who de hell do y' think y' are?" Gambit said as he glared at the woman in front of him.

"Y' come back t' de mansion, an' say dat I'm your son? After two weeks of knowin' who y' are 'round here, y' spring dat on _moi. _Don't play games wit' me." He said coldly.

"Forgive me for being so callous, Gambit." Scarlett said trying to placate him.

She didn't want to use his name just yet.

"If anything, I should apologize for that." She said as her red on black eyes looked down at the paper on the table.

"I honestly didn't want you to find out that way." She said softly.

Anger rose up in him.

"'Dat way?' In what way were y' goin' t' show y' eyes around here? Wait, you didn't want anyone t' make a connection." Remy seethed.

She frowned at the statement.

"_Garcon, _if I wanted to not make a connection with you, I would have left this place a long time ago, and never came back." She said looked down.

"Oh? Den prove it. If y' are _mon mére, _den why'd y' abandon _moi _in an alleyway on de streets?" He seethed.

Gambit could remember as far back as five years old. A man by the name of Fagen, who had cared for the boy for a few years had decided to teach young Remy the ways of a pickpocket and thief; then when he hit 8 years old, Fagen just up and left. Leaving Remy all by himself on the streets. He lived on his own to get by until that fateful day he pickpocketed the pocket of Jean-Luc Lebeau. He was ever grateful to him. Even if he did have his priorities screwed up later in life. Scarlett's eyes glowed darkly and muttered.

"_Merci beaucoup _Fagen, _j'apprécie vraiment vous dire mon fils sur moi. Le bâtard deviant une visite de moi dans le future." _She muttered sarcastically to herself.

She was going to kill the old thief.

"_Quoi?" _Remy asked confused.

"Nothing." She said as she rubbed her face as stood up.

"Listen, this isn't easy for me. I haven't seen _mon fils _for a long time. I know what colored eyes _mon enfant _has." She said as she looked at him with a different look in her eyes.

Pain.

There was pain in them.

"I didn't have a choice." She said finally.

"Choice? Y' didn't have a _choice_?" Remy said coldly.

"Yes. I was on the run to get away from Essex." She said looking up at him.

"You _abandoned _me. Left m' t' die." He said with poison.

Scarlett's eyes went wide and she face turned into a look of rage.

"Abandoned you!? I _SAVED _you!" She shouted at him.

He was taken aback by the small woman's voice.

"I never wanted to abandon my own son!" Her voice cracked and he could see the unshed tears forming.

"If I haven't given you up, the both of us would have _died._" She said gripping the table.

"Died? I nearly died on de streets of New Orleans e'ry day. If it wasn' for Jean-Luc, I would have died dat day." Remy shouted back.

She lifted a finger and pointed at him.

"You were lucky. Jean-Luc meeting you that day made sure that your future was sealed." Scarlett said as she stepped back.

"The LaChance name literally means 'The Lucky One.' I have had many close calls over the years, the day that The Elite's mission to capture Essex; I believed that I was going to die that day without even seeing _mon fils _ever again. At least I would have died, knowing that _mon fils _was well and alive." She said as she started to tear.

"_J'étais habitué comme éleveur par Essex_. He wanted a clone that he could use, control, and obey him. I was hired to steal medical equipment for him. What the equipment was for, I never asked. I used my talents to get them. _La prochaine chose que je sais_, I woke up strapped to a table with him leaning over me." She said as she sat down and placed her face in her hands.

Remy felt a cold feeling rush down his spine.

_A breeder? She was being used as a breeder? _He thought with horror_. _

"He spoke of how powerful I am with my powers. I was trained with these powers since I was a _petite enfant_. I know how to utilize kinetic energy to my advantage." She said as she took out a card, the Ace of Spades and charged it.

A blood red glow surrounded the card and it glowed brighter and brighter until sparks started to fly off.

Her eyes were also glowing intensely as she looked at the card.

"He was so fascinated by it." She said as she absorbed the charge back into her hands.

She them put it by the paper that was face down.

"He told me that my with my powers, I could go nuclear. Blow up an entire city if I wanted to." The fear returned to her eyes.

"He wanted a child that he could raised with certain genetic capabilities and use that child as a pawn in his own sick games." She said leaning back into her chair.

Her eyes lost focus.

"I fought back every time he came. Then it came to the point when he came in with a smile of Satan himself. 'You are pregnant. Congratulations, _dear.' _He had said. At that point, I tried everything to kill myself. But I couldn't. He had his cameras on me at all times. I gave up." She said sadly.

"_Je ne sais pas combien de temps j'étais là-bas_. But I knew that when I hit the six month mark, The Elite came in." She said as her eyes had an unspoken happiness to them.

"Renegade took out Essex. I thought she was an _ange vengeur._" She smiled.

"She was _mon meilleur ami. _There was no doubt that she would have come for me. After getting me out of there, we went into hiding." She said as the tone of her voice fell. She then looked at Remy, with a guilty look on her face.

"I thought about abortion." She said softly.

Remy could feel the self hate radiate off of her in waves.

"Then I remembered something. I'm catholic. I couldn't stand the thought of getting rid of a living, breathing thing. So adoption was another option. I waited until you were born." She chuckled. He clenched his fists.

Was she laughing at the fact that she abandoned him at such a young age?

He was about to spew something at her, but then she surprised him.

"When you were born, I refused to give you up." She said smiling gently.

"For _deux années_, I made sure you were _un bébé en bonne santé_. Hanna had a degree in Medical, so she made sure she had everything for me. She would do your check-ups and when you got sick, if hardly ever, she would look at you." She smiled.

Then she looked at him and frowned.

"Don't think for a second that I never loved you. When you were a little close to 2, you were kidnapped. I hunted down _ces salauds _and I made sure that they would never take you away again." She said angrily, eyes glowing with a murderous glow.

"I learned that Essex was searching for me and you." She closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

"And dat's y'r excuse f'r abandoning _moi_?" Remy spoke up.

She looked at him with surprise and frowned.

"No. I was only thinking of your safety. _J'avais prévu de fausses pistes partout, _but every time I thought I had lost The Marauders, they show up and I would barely escape with my life." She shuddered.

"_À l'époque_, I had left you with Thomas and Azazel. Hanna was with me as backup." She started to tear.

Remy couldn't feel angry with her. He was still mad, but she at least she was telling him of the little past that he had.

"I begged her to manipulate the future." She said as she reached her face and wiped away the tears.

"_Quoi? _Manipulate de future?" Remy questioned.

Scarlett nodded at him assuredly.

"_Oui_. She can see the future and manipulate it to her will, _mais dans une mesure_. She had seen many futures that have you and myself dead. I die, you die, or we both die. She said that our separation is a fixed point in time. Even if she could manipulate that point, she would have a violent _physical_ backlash for that." Scarlett said as she leaned forward.

"I was left with little choice. The only place that Hanna had said that would be safe for you was New Orleans. I haven't been there since the arranged marriage between Jean-Luc and I. But I refused to go to the LeBeau guild for them to raise you." She said sighing.

This perked Remy's curiosity. He had often heard references to New Orleans between Hanna, Thomas, and Azazel. He would have to find out later. He then decided to take a seat as she started to speak again.

"I knew a contact in my Guild that would be able to take care of you." Her voice cracked. "Fagen was his name." She said looking down at the table.

_Fagen. _Remy thought with surprise. _Fagen was part of the LaChance Guild?_

He had always thought that Fagen was a low life scoundrel with no allegiance to any guild.

"He said he would take you in for a price. I paid him 200,000 francs and then some for him to care for you." She said sniffing.

"I never wanted to leave you with him. Everything I had done for you, just to give you away to a man like him. I knew he would teach you something's to live on the streets, but I also knew that Essex wouldn't look for you on the dangerous streets of New Orleans." She said sighing.

"If I could have turned back the time, I would have taken you way to some far off place where Essex would never find us. I would have taken you back to _ma famille _in France, and raised you there, but knowing Essex, he would have found the Guild and would have killed us off if he had the chance." Scarlett said sadly.

"When the Marauders caught up with me, I was fighting to live. It was six months that I was on the run from Essex. _Six mois depuis que j'ai quitté il vous_. At the time, I thought I was being suicidal when they caught up with me and I was nearly beaten to death. I left alive every single time with injuries that probably would have killed me, if it wasn't for the healing factor that I have." She said as a tear went down her face.

"I was on my last leg when he caught up to me in Chicago. I was knocked out and I awoke in a warehouse." She said as she shuddered.

"He practically beat me and tortured me as he demanded where you were." She paused.

Remy just didn't have the heart to say anything.

"I told him that I killed you." She said chillingly.

"I told him with a smile too, though in the inside, I thought that he would see through my lie. I was glad to take whatever hit came my way. If I died there, at least I died protecting you." She said standing up.

"Instead, he said that I wouldn't have made a very good mother after all." She leaned on the table.

"Thinking back, I thought he was lying. _J'étais une bonne mère pour vous_. I cared for you, I feed you, I played with you, I sang to you. But I guess… since I gave you up, maybe I wasn't a good mother after all." She said with sadness.

She looked in his eyes with pain as she stood up and reach into her coat, taking out a small metal pole and a deck of cards. Those were his! He has been looking everywhere for them. She placed them in front of him and she sighed.

"I'm glad to know that you had become a master thief. I'm also glad to know that Jean-Luc, however a _charmant âne _he was when I met him, raised you as his own. You were safe that was all that matters to me. If I were to die now, all I would be thinking is that I know that you are alive and well." She smiled sadly.

Remy was stunned.

She smiled at him and chuckled.

"I don't expect you to call me mother, and I don't expect you to even be friendly with me after this. But I want you to know one thing," She said as she place he hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her.

She had such a proud look on her face that he was just stunned there.

"I'm very proud of you." She smiled.

He just sat there. She was smiling gently at him and spoke.

"I may not deserve it, but I hope you can forgive me for everything I had put you through. If you need anything, just let me know." She said as she took her hand off of his shoulder, almost reluctantly, and left the library.

Remy stood up after five minutes of silence. Then he noticed something. She left the paper and the ace of spades that she had on the table. He picked up the Ace of Spades then the paper, but when he turned it around, he almost dropped it in surprise.

What he held in his hand was an old picture. A younger Scarlett, perhaps in her early or mid 20s, and in a white church dress, red-brown hair was curled in soft waves, smiling brightly at the camera with her red on black eyes glowing happily, and in her arms and on her hip, was Remy himself as an infant in a little dress suit, he was grabbing a fistful of hair and pulling on it, but she didn't seem to care in this picture. They were close to the camera, but you could see the outlines of the church behind her. Remy himself was looking at the camera with a bright curiosity.

Remy chuckled to himself. He was still a little mad at Scarlett, but he had the information from her to know who she is. She was right. She did save him. He looked behind him and saw the open library doors where his mother had left open. Maybe he may forgive her. Just not now. Until then, he sat back down looking at the picture and studying it intently, as if its secrets that it holds would tell him everything. Not paying attention to his surroundings and ignored the ringtone that told him that it was his brother calling.

* * *

Scarlett was on her way beck to her room. Tears were going down her face but she didn't wipe them away. She was glad that she told Remy about what had happened. She would wait for her son to accept her. Until then, she was just another teammate and acquaintance. She didn't care. She was just glad that her son knew about her. Just as she reached her door, she heard Hanna call out her name running up to her. Scarlett looked up at her friend.

"Yeah, _Puis-je vous aider_?" She asked. Hanna was breathing heavily.

"I need you to make a forgery…" Hanna started to say, but noticed the tears that were falling from Scarlett's eyes.

"You talked to Remy." She stated.

Scarlett nodded.

"_Ouais_. I did." Scarlett said smiling.

"Good. I'm glad." Hanna smiled at her friend.

"Your turn." Scarlett chuckled.

Hanna's face dropped and she shook her head.

"Not now. I have a feeling that it won't be that easy. Now, about that forgery…" Hanna trailed off.

"What do you need?" Scarlett said as she entered her room.

"A detective's ID." Hanna said as she sat on Scarlett's bed.

"Detective's… you are going to investigate the murders of the mutant families?" Scarlett said as she entered her bathroom. She turned on her sink and placed a washcloth in there. She wanted to wash her face.

"Yes. I need you to make on for Thomas as well." Hanna spoke.

"_Pense qu'il peut obtenir quelque chose hors des cadavres_?" Scarlett said as she turned off the water and placed the hot rag on her face.

"You know as well as I do that I need his help. He might sense the echoes of the bodies and who might have killed them." Hanna said thoughtfully.

Scarlett scrubbed her face raw and sighed.

"Renegade is on the case again." Scarlett muttered.

"By the way, how did the talk go with him? I halfway expected the library to be in a mess." Hanna chuckled.

"It went fine I think…I just hope that he can forgive me." Scarlett said as she came out and jumped onto her bed next to Hanna.

"He will in time." Hanna said smiling at her friend.

"If he does." Scarlett muttered.

"You'll be fine. By the way, you and Thomas are going to start teaching the kids in Logan's class a week from now." Hanna taunted.

"Haha, funny; A thief and an Assassin with a feral mutant, teaching a class full of kids. Yeah, I can't wait, I'll be teaching the kids how to steal without getting caught, and Thomas will be teaching them sharpshooting. _Sonne comme beaucoup de plaisir."_ Scarlett said sarcastically.

Hanna laughed ah her short friend.

"Well, thanks for going to work on it. I'll need the forgeries by tomorrow. And I wish you the best with Remy." Hanna said comfortingly.

Scarlett nodded. For her to earn her son's respect, she would have to be patient and work for it.

"I'll have them done by tonight." Scarlett said as she sat up.

"Thanks, Scarlett. I owe you one." Hanna smiled.

"Just don't look into my future again, _hein_?" Scarlett said as she poked Hanna in the arm.

"I'll try not to." Hanna chuckled.

The two women spent the rest of the day talking with each other and wondered what the future held for them now.

* * *

_**TAL21: ** _AH HA! Internet! Finally! My brother was fixing the modem and it works like new! I hope you enjoyed this chapter in a way, no fighting, but at least there is conflict between Scarlett and Remy. Now, the murders of those families. What is Renegade up to? Why does she need Blaze? Uh-oh…Rouge is hiding in the background and wants in with the investigation. But she's going to do it her own way. Meanwhile, Kurt is speaking with his girlfriend about his father. She wants to meet him. Azazel Teaches the young junior X-men about Ethics…_his way. _And while chasing down some of them in his larger metamorphic form, he runs into Kurt and his girlfriend. Oh the drama and Humor! And why is Scarlett in the kitchen? **_ON WITH THE SHOUT OUTS!:_**

_**Jay Eddon: ** _I'm glad that my style of writing is great for you, i have always tried to make my writing style unique. :) And no, i didn't get your poetry blog address, fanfic has a tendency of not making links on here.

_**NZreviewer: **_Background stories are hard to make unless you have thought them through long enough. Trust me, i have worked on The Elite's background for months now, and i hope that you guys will enjoy them when the time comes for me to get them out there! :D As for muses, of course! I always look to my reviewers as Muses. Sometimes it's just something in their reviews that spark on the plot and continue the story in many ways. Some reviews don't realize that. :)

_**Yuki: **_As always, opinions are appreciated. Keep in mind, Scarlett is a complex character. You assumed that she was an irresponsible mother by giving Remy up just so that she can run around and play super hero. That is not the case. If you were to be chased down by a mad scientist and he wants your child so he can use him as a pawn in the future, you would protect your child or die trying. When she met Remy again as an adult, she had felt sorrow for not returning to him and see him grow up. But she can tell that he is a great thief and a man of character to her. And for her, she is proud of him and his achievements. All she hopes for now, is forgiveness for her _sins, _in a sense of her abandoning him. Anyways, that's my side of things. As always, Opinions are greatly appreciated. :)

**_TAL21: _**That's all for Tonight! I'll see you monday for the new chapter! I hope you had enjoyed this chapter and drama! :D Thing are going to get interesting as Renegade and Blaze will be working the investigation and Rouge tags along inconspicuously. Azazel will be dealing with annoying kids, and Scarlett is in the kitchen. Let's hope that things will be awesome in the next chapter! :D **_PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS!_ :D**

_**Question Time!: **_** 1) **Why does Renegade need Blaze to come with her on the investigation of the murders of the mutants families? **2) **What is your favorite rock band? (Mine is Breaking Benjamin, Skillet, Creed, and Within Temptation.)

**_KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**History Before The X-Men**_

By Time And Life 21

* * *

"Rouge."

"Rouge!"

"_**ROUGE!**_"

Kitty was shouting in Rouges ear and Rouge jerked away from her friend's mouth that was screaming in her ears.

"Dang it, Kit! I can hear ya!" Rouge said as she rubbed her ears carefully.

"Well Rouge, you weren't, like, answering me! I was talking about the Danger room session this morning, but you spaced out!" Kitty said as she sat in front of her friend.

They were currently in the living room of the Institute and were currently the only ones in there. It was a rarity, but it was nice having a decent conversation, but there was one problem for Kitty: Rouge spaced out.

"You know, when you, like, spaced out I asked you if you thought Mr. Montmorency's body was hot and he should totally be a model, and you said 'yeah'." Kitty laughed. Rouge's face pulled into a frown.

"Ew, Kit! He's like, Logan's age, maybe." Rouge said disgusted.

Kitty kept laughing at her best friend's face.

"Sorry, Rouge. But really, I was down in the med bay earlier, and I saw him with Hanna down there." Kitty said with a suspicious voice.

"Kit, they are married. Whatever you saw or what they are doing is their business…unless you saw…" Rouge teased.

Kitty pulled a disgusted face and shook her head in horror.

"EW! No! You are crazy! I'm not like that!" Kitty blushed furiously.

"But I over heard them saying something about the murders." Kitty said sadly.

Rouge looked down in her lap. Ever since the news feed came up, there were riots in the Big Apple. Mutants were protesting against the wrongful murders of families and friends alike. Rouge was glad to be in Bayville. At least there were only a couple murders here in Bayville, but that didn't stop most of the kids in the mansion being afraid of going out in public.

"Kit, were you evesdroppin' again?" Rouge chastised her.

"No! I was just on my way to get some bandages for some of the younger kids and I over heard them say something about checking out one of the murders. Turns out Scarlett forged some identification cards for them and they will be heading out to find out who killed them." Kitty said as she leaned back into the couch.

Rouge frowned at this.

"But how can they do that? Professor won't let them go…will he?" Rouge asked theoretically.

"Actually, we don't work for Xavier." They heard someone behind them.

The two girls turned around and saw Hanna. She was wearing black slacks with black ballet shoes and a white blouse. She was also wearing a form fitting forest green trench coat. Her white and brown hair was pulled up in a half ponytail and the rest of her hair flowed down her back in soft curls. Her bangs were barely reaching her eyes and there was fringe framing her face, making her look like a delicate woman.

"So, why are you going out to find these guys? Can't you let the police do it?" Kitty asked as the woman walked up to them.

"I may have been Xavier's student a long time ago, but when I was old enough, I went on my own and created my own team. You could say I was the first X-Men though." Hanna smirked.

Kitty and Rouge's jaws dropped at the news.

"You were the first X-Men?" Kitty repeated as a smile grew on her face.

"Yes. In fact, when I turned seventeen, Xavier asked me, at the time, to go and find young mutants who have a hard time utilizing their powers. Much like you guys are doing right now." Hanna smiled gently.

"Really? That's amazing! But weren't you leaving the Professor behind?" Rouge asked the older woman.

Hanna shook her head and smiled.

"No. At the time, Moria McTaggert and Erik Lehnsherr were living here. I was their first student." Hanna said as she took a seat across from the two girls.

"Wait…Lehnsherr? You mean Magneto worked here before?" Rouge said surprised. Hanna nodded and the young woman.

"Yes. He did. I came to the institute when I was 12 years old. He left the institute after a dispute that he and Xavier had when I was just barely 16. He offered that I would make a better world if I joined him. Unfortunately, considering the fact that I can see the future, I saw what path I would be going down in if followed him. So I turned him down." Hanna said sadly as she spoke of her old teacher.

"Wow, Magneto teaching here. Like, that sounds so creepy." Kitty shuddered.

"You'd be surprised. Erik was a very good teacher. In fact, he was the one who helped me with my shadow manipulation." Hanna said fondly.

"And it was your shadow manipulation that got you into trouble, if I recall correctly." The three women in the room snapped their heads to the blond haired British mutant who came into the room and made a beeline to Hanna.

"Thomas…" Hanna said as she narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Now, do I have to repeat the performance that you put on public display during Mardis Gras?" He chuckled.

Kitty was right in many senses. Thomas Montmorency, in many ways, was like a male model. Rouge and Kitty looked at each other with a secret glance and they both flushed slightly. Rouge may not like Thomas much, but at least he let up on the 'kid' comments since he would be their teacher. Even if said teacher was hot and married to a gorgeous woman like Hanna. Thomas was wearing black Jeans, black shoes, and black dress shirt. He had a light jacket in his arms. His blond hair was mussed up and he made it look good.

"Oh, you know why I had to perform like that. I had to get your attention somehow. If I didn't get your attention the first time, the second time when I was in that _private bar _and I gave you the King of Hearts card, At the time I didn't even realize that you were an Assassin for the Guild down there." She said waving her hand at her husband.

"Wait! You guys met during Mardi Gras?" Rouge asked curiously.

Thomas chuckled.

"Technically, I met her when I was on a job. I moved from the UK to New Orleans, due to some…complications at home. At the time, I was good friends with Marius Boudreux and Jean-Luc LeBeau." Thomas said as he thought back to the times where Assassins and thieves weren't always at each other's throats every day.

"Wait…I know Scarlett calls you an Assassin, but you are literally an assassin?" Kitty squeaked.

Thomas smiled briefly.

"Yes." He said shortly.

"Wow, that's surprising." Rouge said her thoughts moving to Remy.

He never said anything about there being peace between the guilds before he joined. If there was, she didn't know. Though, if she sorted her head enough to get Marius' memories, she might be able to get some sort of information. Maybe some other time.

"Technically, there was a piece of Territory in New Orleans that served as Neutral to all Guilds in the area. I wonder if it's still neutral." Thomas said thoughtfully.

"Well, you may have to think about it some other time. I think Scarlett is putting some finishing touches on our cards. And we..." Hanna said standing up and cocking her hip. "Need to go to the crime scene today." She said as her eyes flashed gold momentarily.

"Oh, yes. You need my powers. I thought I wasn't a tool." He said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Honey, you are a jack of all trades when it comes to your powers. Of course, you are a tool. But I like your personality better." She smiled charmingly up at her husband.

Kitty melted at he sight of the husband and wife together, silently 'awwing' to herself. Rouge was slightly frowning to herself. She could see them so happy. She wondered to herself if she could ever have that in the future. If she can control her powers, she just might, maybe, take up Remy's offer on that date.

"So you guys will be leaving?" Kitty asked, pulling Rouge out of her thoughts.

"Yes. We might as well get started. 13 years may have made us a bit rusty." Thomas said as he took out a pair of leather gloves and placed them onto his hands.

This confused Rouge a bit. It wasn't even close to the end of summer, and Thomas was putting on gloves? She had a reason to wear gloves. What reason does Thomas have?

"Can I come with you?" Rouge asked.

Thomas and Hanna looked at her in surprise.

"No." Thomas said sharply.

"Why not? I've got nothing better to do." Rouge said as she stood up.

Hanna placed her hand thoughtfully on her chin as if contemplating the idea.

"No." Thomas said to his wife.

"Thomas…" Hanna said as she looked up at him.

"That's final. Hanna and I are more experienced in this field. Even if Scarlett could make you an ID, you wouldn't look like a detective or even an officer. Not even a rookie." Thomas said as he put on his jacket.

"Maybe in the future." Thomas said as he left the living room.

"I'll be in the foyer waiting, darling." Thomas said back at his wife before disappearing.

Rouge gritted her teeth. Who was he to decide what she could or couldn't do? He wasn't her father. She jumped slightly as Hanna placed her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Rouge. But he's right. I know that you have been trained for thing like this, but The Elite operates on a different level than the X-Men." She said smiling just a little.

"Tell you what. When I get back, I'll take you girls out shopping. My treat." She smiled.

Kitty smiled widely and babbled about some shirts that she found at the mall. Rouge was still a bit miffed that she couldn't come along. Maybe… a plan formed in her mind. She would follow them. And they wouldn't know it.

* * *

Kurt was walking alongside his girlfriend, Amanda as they were just leaving a small café. He had his image inducer on and Amanda was teasing him about it again.

"Kurt, you are never going to be comfortable about yourself in public if you keep wearing it." She said smiling.

Kurt sniffed and crossed his arms childishly.

"I'm trying, but I don't vant the 'torches and pitchforks' coming after me." Kurt said frowning.

"I'm sure that won't happen." Amanda said comforting her boyfriend.

"Oh vell, maybe I could…_nien_. Never mind." Kurt started to say.

Amanda picked up his discomfort.

"Could what, Kurt? You can tell me." She said as she hooked her arm with his.

"Vell…" He looked to the sky.

"I could ask…" He swallowed.

"_Mien vatter._" He said nervously.

Amanda looked at Kurt confused.

"Can't you call him when you get home? I'm sure he would love to hear from you." Amanda smiled.

"Ah, not my Adoptive _vatter_." Kurt said nervously.

He honestly didn't want to scare his girlfriend away by talking about Azazel. It was difficult for him to even address Azazel as his father, seeing that he never knew of him.

"Oh. Wait, you've met your biological father?" Amanda said smiling widely.

"Ah, yeah. He currently lives at the Institute and is working as a teacher there." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"We are currently not on speaking terms at the moment." He said nervously.

"Oh…well have you tried?" Amanda asked.

There wasn't a reply.

Amanda sighed dramatically.

"Kurt…are you saying that you or your dad haven't spoken to each other…at all?" Amanda asked as she crossed her arms.

Kurt nervously laughed.

"Vell, I don't know vat to do! I mean, I just barely met him two weeks ago!" Kurt said exasperated.

"And he is going to be teaching Ethics and Morals at the Institute too." Kurt pouted.

Amanda knew that Kurt was having a hard time. When he told her about finding out whom his biological mother was, he was excited about it yet, knowing his mother was Mystique, it tore him apart as well. Knowing that his mother is on a different side, it broke his heart. Even when she asked Kurt for forgiveness, he turned her down. It still hurts, but he has wondered from time to time if she is still around. Maybe, she could help him out with his father. That was a brilliant idea!

"Hey…how about you introduce me to him. Your dad, I mean." Amanda said as she pushed a strand of hair back.

Kurt was taken aback.

"WHAT!?" He exclaimed. He could have sworn that she said that she wanted to meet his father.

"Well, I mean, I wonder were you get your good looks from, Kurt. But I would love to meet your father." She smiled brightly.

How could Kurt resist that smile? He sighed.

"Okay. But vill you promise not to freak out when you meet him?" He pleaded. Amanda tilted her head and smiled.

"Kurt, if I don't care what you look like, image inducer or not, I won't care what your father looks like. Now let's go! I want to meet him!" She laughed as she took his hand and dragging him off to the Mansion.

He was wondering what have he gotten himself into.

* * *

Azazel was currently in his larger metamorphic form. His 'Hell Hound' form as Scarlett had termed. He had started off his class by telling them to either fight him, or run from him. When they had asked why, he metamorphic into a large red hound and said, 'What better way to teach you about Morals, then to chase you down like prey?'. He had also specifically stated that this was just for education purposes only. He had cleared it with Xavier yesterday and stated that other than what he was taught in the Soviet Special Ops, this was the best way for him to teach. Xavier had granted it, just as long as students don't get hurt in the process.

Well, a few bumps and scraps are that bad. Right?

Azazel was currently following the scent of Wolfsbane. Instead of fighting him like a few other students, she was part of the class that took off running. He could smell her fear as he tracked her down. Using his spaded tail, he opened a closet and found the half formed mutant wolf girl. His expression on his face was that of blankness.

"Try again." He said as he opened his maw and feinted to eat her.

She then surprised him as she launched herself at his face, biting into his forehead then taking off down that hallway.

_"She didn't aim for the eyes. __**5 баллов за ней.**__" _He cataloged in his mind. He took off after the smaller mutant avoiding any breakable obstacles in his way. As he turned the corner, he stopped running and skidded to a stop.

_"Well…this is interesting." _He thought.

In front of him was his son, without the image inducer, and a young dark skinned girl with long brown hair with silver clasps in them. She was wearing a black shirt, orange capri pants, and sandals. Kurt looked absolutely terrified. Azazel tilted his head in confusion before he heard paws running towards him.

"There he is!"

"Get him!"

"This time for sure!"

He could hear his students jumping at him and he took action. In his larger form, he wasn't as agile, but he snapped back into his regular form and dodged and counter attacked his students. He flipped Roberto onto his back, Tabitha was face down, Bobby was thrown and sliding across the floor, Amara fell onto her bottom, Jamie's multiples were scatters around him groaning, Jubilee was teleported onto the chandelier and holding for dear life, Ray was on his knees panting, and Sam completely missed his mark and crashed into the wall behind him. Azazel's spaded tail flicked this way and that. He was missing a student.

"I gotcha now!" Rahne shouted as she transformed and lunged at him. He waited until the last minute and teleported out of the way, making her fall onto the ground with a yelp.

The surrounding students groaned and hissed at their bruises and bumps. Azazel sighed. They could fight okay, but not well enough. He was glad to not be a co-teacher with Logan. He would have run these kids into the ground. He would have focused on his son at the moment, but he was teaching.

"Now. What have we learned about our first lesson?" Azazel asked his students.

"Don't take you on in a fight?" Jamie said as he held his head.

"That, and if you didn't want to fight, you could have said so." Azazel smirked.

"What!?"

"Come on!"

"We didn't have to fight you?"

All the exclamations were said, then he held up his hands and they silenced.

"This is part where you take lesson into mind. I have said, 'You fight me or run.' But you never took into account of. 'No.' I would respect decision… and let you out of class today." He smiled wickedly. "What does that have to do with Ethics?" Amara asked.

"We as mutants have powers. Look around you. See what you have done to the floor and walls? You should be grateful that I'm not your teacher in fighting. I don't take failures lightly." Azazel said. "First lesson: Don't fight me unless you are serious about it. Second lesson: Say no to fights. I may have heckled you and bullied you into running and fighting, but morals and standards are more important than pride. I would know." He said as he gave a hand to Rahne and helped her up.

"You are dismissed." He said as he waved his hand.

The younger students dispersed and nursed their wounded pride and physical bruises. He then turned back to his son and the young woman beside him. Kurt had a look of absolute shock on his face. While the girl, when he saw her first had a scared look on her face. Now…she was smiling like no tomorrow. Why did he have a feeling that this was either going to end badly or possibly good?

* * *

_**TAL21: **_FINALLY! Well, I woke up this morning and the doc manager was working again. Awesome. So there you have it! This plot is about to roll and roll. *Grabs Plot bunny's by the ears* So i caught the silly wabbit, and it told me everything. Well not everything, just some elements of plot is coming together. Well, Rouge is a little miffed that she couldn't go with Blaze and Renegade to the murder scene, but that didn't mean that she can't practice her stealth techniques to find out. But she will be seeing Blaze in a new light, and what a light that confuses her, and they find something strange about the murders. Kurt and Azazel meet a dreaded foe…woman. Amanda just wants to see the father and son talk things out and get to know each other more, unfortunately, it's easier said than done. _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Guest: **_Oh, she will be finding out sooner or later. Don't worry.

_**Jay Eddon: **_ Yeah, sorry for no action, as i was writing out the scene for Gambit and Scarlett, a fight kinda seemed appropriate at the time, but then it would have blown up in my face and people would not have liked what i had written down. It would have involved broken bones, a tree falling on someone, and Scarlett having to save the person by pushing them out of the way and BAM! She's stuck under the tree. Oh well, maybe i could use that as a deleted scene or something. And Yes, Skillet rocks! :D

_**EraticMind: **_There, you got your Rouge. Happy now? XD And out of your rock band list, Breaking Benjamin tops it all. :D

_**MakingT'ingsGoBoom: **_Thank you for liking this story! I thought it was sweet of the flashbacks too. I just had to add them somehow. Plus, i wanted people to see how Scarlett would have been like as a young mother. :D I thought she turned out well. :)

_**nightwish635: **_Oh, Rouge will only have the touch. All will be explained in future chapters. :) Thank you for reviewing! :D

_**TAL21: **_Okay, now that we are done with the **_Shout Outs, _ **let's take a break and you guys will get a new chapter on Thanksgiving! For that, you guys are getting double questioned! _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE! **_ You may be surprised that some fanifctions keep going on if you lease awesome reviews! :D

_**Question Time!: 1)** _How did you get into _**Marvel's X-Men**_? (Ie: Cartoon, comic, movies, etc.) _**2) **_And what are you doing for Thanksgiving/Black Friday?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**History Before the**_** X-Men  
**By Time And Life 21

* * *

Kurt has never felt this awkward before. Azazel had never felt this awkward before. Both were under the eyes of the young woman that was in the kitchen. Amanda kept looking from Kurt to Azazel back to Kurt again. She was seeing the similarities and differences between father and son. Both were very unique in many ways. The skin color, the tails, the ears (She secretly really liked Kurt's ears.), and their legs. But the differences are outstanding. Azazel was tall in stature with sharp features. He was more composed and old fashioned in his ways. He placed a glass of water in front of her.

"Thank you." She smiled at him. He nodded at her in welcome.

"It surprise to see normal human here." Azazel said as he placed a cup of hot jasmine tea in from if Kurt.

Kurt was still stiff from seeing him in his hell hound form.

"Drink, _syn. _You look much too tense."Azazel said chuckling.

Kurt shook his head and took a small sip from it.

"Well, my parents don't like that I come here from time to time." Amanda said after she drank a bit of her water.

"Oh? Anti-mutants?" Azazel asked raising an eyebrow.

Amanda shook her head.

"Oh no…they are still adjusting to the fact that I'm dating Kurt." Amanda said a bit shyly.

Kurt nearly spat out his tea at the mention. He didn't want Azazel to know he was dating her yet!

"So, your _родители, _are getting used to him?" Azazel said as he looked at Kurt strangely.

Amanda smiled brightly.

"Yeah! Actually," Amandad looked at Kurt.

"My mom is really warming up to him. Right Kurt?" Amanda smiled.

"Right, if throwing holy water on me is, _Aufwärmen,_ then i would agree." Kurt frowned as his tail twitched at the memory.

Last week when Kurt went to pick up Amanda for a new movie that came out, Her mother threw water on him, ruining his image inducer and having to go back to the mansion for Forge to fix it.

To Kurt's surprise, Azazel started to laugh. At first it was a chuckle, then it became a bit louder.

"Well, I think it runs in family." Azazel smiled in sympathy at Kurt.

Kurt looked at Azazel with a questioning look.

"You had Holy Water thrown at you?" Kurt asked astounded.

Azazel nodded, still chuckling.

"_Da, _was in Italy with Elite. We had break from SHIELD work. Scarlett spoke of going to the Churches there, and I went into confessional." Azazel smirked the memory.

"I came out and the priest spoke of demons walking the earth. Then Scarlett came into the church and the priest was screaming and tossing holy water at us like last life line. Funny experience, but ending in being very wet." Azazel chuckled.

Amanda hid her smile behind her hand.

"Really? That does sound funny." Amanda said smiling.

"Glad to know I'm not _ze _only one." Kurt said finishing his tea.

"Is unfortunate in many ways to be Neyaphem. But advantages are nice." Azazel said as he opened the fridge with his tail and grabbed a green apple with it.

He placed it onto the counter and then picked it up with his hand. Kurt frowned.

"I don't know how to do that." He muttered.

"You are forgetting that our hearing is very good as well. It takes practice. Took 6 years to handle swords with tail. Another six to utilize it as weapon." Azazel said as he leaned back into his chair.

"Wow… that's amazing." Amanda said as she looked at Kurt.

She could picture it now. Kurt, in his later years, wielding a sword and looking dangerous. To her, it was heroic.

"Sounds like a lot of work. It doesn't even sound easy." Kurt said in awe.

"Takes time and practice. Just like teleporting." Azazel said as he suddenly went into thought.

"How far can you teleport?" He asked his son.

"Two miles. Why?" Kurt asked. Azazel frowned a little.

"Hm…you should be able to teleport anywhere in world. I ask Renegade when she comes back." Azazel said as he bit into his apple.

"Why? What would you ask her?" Kurt said suddenly self conscious in front of his father.

"Renegade went to school to become doctor and geneticist. She theorized along with Moria McTaggert that X-gene is passed down from Father's side. Makes sense, seeing that you look more like me, rather than mother." Azazel said as he placed his hand on Kurt's head, then ruffled it.

Between the two demon like mutants, the tension between them disappeared. Amanda chuckled.

"Well, at least i know where Kurt gets his good looks from." Amanda said as she hooked her arm around Kurt's.

"I never said i was good looking." Kurt said looking down at his girlfriend.

"Yeah, but you are very good looking to me." She said kissing him on the cheek. Azazel chuckled at the two. Secretly glad that his son was accepted. It reminded him of his younger years in the gypsy camp before he was taken away. Then something perked up his ears. A high, shrill whistle. His face contorted in annoyance.

"_Прости меня, _I must leave now." He said as he tossed the core of his apple into the garbage.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Kurt asked.

"Blaze is calling." Was all he said.

Then he disappeared. Leaving Kurt and Amanda alone.

"Well, I like him." Amanda said smiling.

"Thank you, Amanda." Kurt said as he hugged his girlfriend around the waist.

Never knowing that when Azazel left the kitchen, he would be coming back with Blaze, bloodied and injured.

* * *

Rouge's head was pounding. She was hearing something frantic in her ears…Renegade. She was there.

"Anna! Please wake up!"

She could hear Renegade's voice growing louder.

She opened her eyes and saw Renegade's ice blue ones looking into her's worriedly.

"Wha-? What happened?" Rouge slurred. She felt really uncomfortable.

Something was around her neck and it was chaffing. She reached up and felt something there.

"Don't fiddle with it, Rouge. If you do you will get shocked." Renegade said as she grabbed Rouge's hand and placed it down.

Rouge's vision finally cleared and was shocked at what she was seeing. She was in a train car. She could hear the train whistle and the movement of the tracks below. She looked at Renegade.

"Where are we?" Rouge asked as she looked around. They were not alone. There were other people in the train car as well. They had a thick black collars on as well. Some were old and some were her age and maybe younger.

"Rouge…we were captured remember?" Renegade said as she moved to her side and pulled her close, as if she didn't want Rouge out of her sight.

Then everything came back to Rouge. She remembered following Renegade and Blaze to the murder scene…

* * *

**4 hours ago…**

Rouge made sure she waited ten minutes before she changed her clothes and followed them discreetly. She was wearing boot flare jeans with her converse and her purple off the shoulder shirt that she usually wears. The last part was to put on her gloves when she thought back to Blaze and he had leather gloves on.

_"Why would he wear gloves?" _She thought to herself.

Maybe it made him more professional? She shook her head. She had to follow them now.

She stuck to the alleyways of town. She knew the murder happened on Joy street, so she made sure to stay no the backroads. As she turned onto Joy, she saw the yellow tape and a couple of cop cars there. They were still investigating the murder. Joy was a street that had a large part of the backyards filled with forest area. She remembered the small community wanted the forest left alone instead of expanding the suburb area. It was a good thing too.

Rouge sneaked past the cops when they weren't looking and went to the back of the house. She had to breathe again when she saw the back yard. There was blood everywhere. There were no bodies, but there was defiantly blood. She steeled herself and looked around carefully. She made sure to avoid the dried blood puddles. She could tell that there was a fight here. But why haven't the neighbors heard anything? She heard something click behind her. She looked at the back door of the house and she took off to hide behind a tree. She told herself to calm her beating heart and kept her breathing silent. She could hear the voices of Renegade and Blaze. She peered from behind the large tree and saw them.

"Seeing anything yet?" Blaze said as he turned to his wife.

Renegade's eyes were turning gold and she looked like she was picking things out of thin air.

"As much as i can see the past, it's all blurred. This family should not have died." Renegade said as she looked around.

"So, you are saying that it wasn't their time?" Blaze said as he took off his right leather glove.

Rouge was curious of why he took of his glove. He kneeled down to the ground and placed his hand on the dried puddle of blood. Rouge could faintly see his eyes glow faintly and the veins around his face protruded outward and it was showing a silver black color. He stood up and placed his leather glove back on.

"What the bloody hell does Graydon Creed have to do with this?" He said as he turned to his wife.

Renegade had a confused look on her face.

"Creed?" She said as if the name was dirt. She plucked at the air again and a scowl appeared on her face.

"It's too hard to see the past." She said as her eyes turned back to the ice blue color.

"If anything, there was a definite struggle. Krisson's powers were sub-sonic screams. It's not like Banshee's. He's a Bleeder." Blaze shuddered slightly.

"Oh? Wow…his screams should have woken up the entire neighborhood." Renegade said as she looked around at the ground again.

"That should have happened. I don't see any broken glass windows. They must've went straight for his vocal cords. He bled out." Blaze said as he turned to his wife.

Rouge had decided to turn tail and head out. She had heard enough. Though was she was walking through the small forest, she didn't realize that she was being followed and the next thing she heard was a click of a gun. She froze where she stood then whipped around and saw three men with guns aimed right at her.

"Well, what have we here? Another mutie?" One of the men said.

Great. She was stuck. Why couldn't she have better powers? Telekinesis would have been nice to have and convenient too, she would have yanked those guns out of they hands in no time flat. The men were wearing some sort of tactical clothing's that police would be wearing, but it was clear enough that they were not police.

"Look, I don't know what you are talking about, but i think you have got the wrong person." Rouge said trying to say the men to let her go.

They didn't. On of the men aimed their gun at her as he walked up to her.

"Now listen here, you are coming with us. Got it?" He said as he aimed his gun right in the middle of her forehead. Fear shot through her body. She did not want to die today.

"If i were you boys…i'd leave." She heard the familiar accent of the british man.

All three men then turned to Blaze as he step out of the tree shadows. Then Rouge felt herself being pulled backward and suddenly she landed right behind Blaze. Hands were on her shoulders. Rouge looked up and saw Renegade right there.

"More muties!" one of the men shouted.

"I'm afraid that my patience is being spread thin here…" Blaze started to grin as he took off his gloves and dropped then to the ground.

"Leave now, or i will not hesitate to kill you off. And trust me, it will not be pleasant." Blaze said as he flexed his fingers.

Rouge was confused.

_"Doesn't he have the power to control and make fire?" _She thought to herself.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do then? Read our minds?" the third man sneered.

Blaze shifted his footing and ran straight at the three men. He was so fast! He knocked out one man with a punch, and the second one he grabbed his arm and sucker punched him and covered his mouth as he kicked in his knee, hearing a horrifying crack, and the man promptly passed out from the pain. The third man decided to take aim…and fired.

Rouge gasped as she heard the gunshots. Blaze was shot! But he wasn't falling and he stood up straight.

"Seriously?" He said in awe. Rouge heard Renegade gave a breathy laugh.

"The hell?" The man said as he stood back a couple feet.

"You should be dead!" He shouted.

Blaze ran over to the man and kicked him in the gut and he went flying to the side and hit a tree. He let out a strangled cry before Blaze seized his throat.

"Now…you are going to tell me everything about Graydon Creed. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I'd rather do this the easy way. Talk." Blaze said chillingly.

Rouge could feel the cold tone of his voice. Then looked at the two unconscious men on the ground. What _are _his powers?

"His old name was Reaper." Renegade said as if it was an answer to her thoughts.

"He was a top notch assassin. He has killed many people. But only a few of them he killed with his bare hands." She said with stone lacing her voice.

"But…but X-Men don't kill." Rouge said looking up at Renegade.

"We have different stances Rouge. We hate killing. But it is necessary. I've been doing this for many years. We are not X-Men. We are Elite. We do what we can to protect all humans and mutants. No matter what." She said as she looked at her husband.

Rouge looked back at Blaze as well.

"Okay. You are going to tell me everything." Blaze said as he let the man go and fall to the ground.

The last thing Rouge saw, was Blaze placing his hand on the man's head and somehow…he was taking the life out of him. Then blackness covered her vision, a strange smell filled her nose, and she didn't remember anything else.

* * *

**_Present…_**

Rouge looked at Renegade.

"Why did I black out?" Rouge asked.

Renegade frowned.

"It turned out that the three men were bait. Either someone planned this out and they wanted the X-Men captured, or they wanted to do this for sport. I can't see that far right now." She said as her eyes briefly flashed gold and pointed at the collar on her neck.

Rouge looked around trying to find the familiar blond hair of Blaze.

"Where is Blaze?" Rouge asked. Renegade smiled sadly.

"Blaze managed to get away. He is probably with the X-Men right now and trying to get them to find us." She said as she pulled Rouge closer to her. Rouge was bit surprised at the fact that the woman wasn't pushing her away. Her skin is poison. She would have thought that Renegade would shun her because of her powers.

"Listen to me Rouge. Follow my lead and don't talk to anyone. Things are going to get worse. Okay?" Renegade said as she held onto Rouge's arm tightly but gently.

Rouge nodded and became dizzy, she could smell that strange smell again.

"Chloroform. I'll see you when i wake up." Renegade said before leaning her head against the wall and passing out. Rouge followed soon after. Hoping that someone would save them soon.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Okay, now i can do my author's notes. So, things are going to spiral down from here. Renegade and Rouge have been kidnapped, Blaze apparently managed to get away, and Azazel and Kurt are slowly starting to get along. I thinks it's going well...right? Anyways, I won't be posting a new chapter tonight, i have been busy with work and Black friday. Let me tell you, people. Are. Crazy. I saw a lot of people grabbing 4 or 5 of the same things. Xbox 360s were being sold out like they were going out of style. Personally, i prefer the PS3. Anyways. I was lucky to even get the PS3 (A want) and get some clothes (A need). So i hope you guys enjoyed your Thanksgiving and Black Friday Shopping. Onto the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Dark Lord of The X-Men: **_Yeah, i wanted Azazel to give an important lesson to the kids about how their powers affect their surroundings and id they had said no to the fight, he would have let them go. I thought it was priceless. :D

_**Jay Eddon: ** _I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I know I did. :D For me, i watched the original cartoons and then Evo came around and then WATXM. I enjoyed them all. :D

_**Yuki: **_Okay. Let me explain something here. I'm trying to keep as close to Gambit's Origin as close as possible. There are many origins of how he came to be. He was kidnapped by the Thieves in one story line, abandoned in another, and so on and so forth. I had decided to take a spin on his origin and gave him Scarlett. That was the idea. I have studied his background enough that with the idea of **_History Before the X-Men, _ **It had worked out enough for me to work with. And Yes. Scarlett did a three sixty of her personality when she had Gambit and when she met him again. Get this, She _**felt ** _the pain and it was enough that she almost nearly *Spoilers* so it was hard on her. She had to steel herself up if she had to keep working with her Guild, the Elite, AND SHIELD. It was enough that She changed her name from 'Queen Of Hearts' to 'Ace Of Spades'. She died on the inside giving up her son. That's all i can give for now. Thanks for the review! :D

_**TAL21: **_Okay, i'm done with that. Now. I can't wait to get into the dirty gritty part of my story. Now, most of you know that i was doing this for NANOWRIMO, and seeing that it ends tomorrow, oh well. Hey, i gave it a shot, and i thought i did well. :) The next Chapter will be put up sometime next week before thursday. I will be returning to My WEEKLY updates, instead of Daily. But instead of 2000 words, it may be more than that. :D So yay for long chapters! I will see you guys next thursday and i hope to hear from you! _**REMEMBER TO LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS! :D**_

_**Question Time!: **_What Theme song would you give this story? And What would be the 'families' themes? (Ie: Kurt and Azazel, Scarlett and Gambit, and Blaze, Renegade and Rouge.)

_**REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**History Before The X-Men**_

by TimeAndLife21

* * *

The next time Rogue woke up, she was feeling something in her hair. She opened her eyes slightly, seeing only darkness around her. She was laying on something warm.

"How are you feeling, Rogue?" She heard Renegade said softly.

Rogue turned a little and looked up. She saw Renegade's worried face look down at her. Rogue groaned a little and placed her hand on her forehead.

"Mah head's killin' meh." She said thickly. Renegade chuckled.

"It'll pass. Do you feel anything strange at all? Anything?" Renegade said as she scratched at the skin of her neck underneath the black collar that was on her.

Rouge slowly sat up and scooted back pressing against Renegade. She rubbed her temples before noticing something. The voices in her mind…they were quiet. She could still hear them…but it was muffled, like they were behind doors.

"I can't hear them." she said softly.

Renegade looked at Rouge strangely.

"Hear what?" She asked.

"The voices in may head. They're quiet." Rogue said with awe.

Renegade tensed up.

"Rogue…I need to know. What are your powers?" Renegade asked.

It was Rogue's turn to look at the older woman strangely.

"You don't know?" She asked confused.

Wasn't one of Renegade's powers seeing the future?

"I want to hear it from you. I've heard the younger students at the Institute say that you drain life from them." Renegade said as she crossed her legs indian style.

"That's basically what mah powers are. Muh powers need skin to skin contact with other people and Ah get a copy of their minds, memories, energy, power if they are mutants, and everything else in between. It's a curse." Rogue said looking down.

Renegade chuckled at her. Rogue looked up with an angry look.

"It's only a curse if you let it be." Renegade said smiling secretly.

"How would you know?" Rogue asked as she rubbed her arms.

She finally took in her surroundings. There were other people in the train car too. Young, middle aged, old. They wore the same black collar she and Renegade were wearing. It was a bit crowded as well.

"I can see the future, Rogue." Renegade's voice pulled her out her observation and she looked at the woman.

"The future? I think I heard Storm say something about that once." Rogue said as she noticed Renegade's eyes turning gold.

"Why do your eyes turn gold?" Rouge asked.

Renegade smiled at the young woman.

"Oh that? Well, they turn gold when I'm seeing the future. Apparently, the collars don't affect that. But my shadow manipulation powers are shut off." Renegade said as she tried to manipulate the dark around her.

Her face suddenly became pained as she reached for the collar and let out a pained yelp.

"I recommend not using your powers. The collars are quite…shocking." Renegade chuckled bitterly.

Rogue bit her bottom lip.

"How can ya joke around a time like this?" Rogue said frowning.

"Rogue, I have been captured, burned, shot at, beaten, and a whole bunch of stuff. This isn't going to affect me much." Renegade said as she leaned back and sighed.

Rouge rolled her eyes and looked around, trying to see if there is anywhere she could escape. But no luck. Thens she realized something. Renegade called her 'Anna' whens he first woke up. She looked at Renegade sharply. She was combing her wavy white on brown hair and braiding it through.

"You called me Anna. No one else knows my name." Rogue said as she turned to looked at the older woman. Renegade stopped in her braiding.

"How did you know mah name?" Rouge asked.

"I saw your future." Renegade simply said.

Rogue knew there was more to that.

"No. You called mah name out. I heard you. And there's another question I wanted to ask ya about. How did you get the white stripes in your hair?" Rouge pushed.

"Rogue…not now. Look for now, we need to focus on trying to get out." Renegade said as she looked around for an exit, only to sigh as she couldn't see any exits.

Rogue frowned and narrowed her eyes at the older woman. She was hiding something. She was going to find out sooner or later. Then she started to hear something. A high squealing noise. The train car suddenly lurched forward and Rogue fell to the floor along with Renegade and many others.

"They're stopping."

"Maybe they got a few more."

"I've got to get out of here."

There were mutters and scared people talking. The train car's doors opened reveling men wearing some sort of garb that one would expect hunters to wear.

One man tried to make a run for it when he jumped out and took off running. But he wasn't able to get far. A hunter brought him back with a head wound that was bleeding profusely.

"And stay in there you filthy mutie!" He said as he tossed the man back into the car. Rouge wanted to get up and help him but Renegade grabbed Rogue arm harshly and pulled her back down.

"Wait!" Renegade hissed.

"Wait until they are finished." She said as she looked back to the open doors.

"Get in there!" on of the hunter said as they forced someone into the car and he fell ungracefully into the car. Rogue recognized him. The platinum blond hair gave it away. It was Pietro.

"Hey! You'll pay for that!" He shouted at the garbed men.

One of the men aimed his gun at him.

"You are lucky that I can't shoot you dead, boy." The man said as he turned and waved at someone else to bring in another mutant.

It was Wanda. She looked stoned out of her mind. They must have drugged her.

"Pietro. Wanda!" Rogue tried getting up again, but Renegade stopped her and gave her a glare that rivaled the Wolverine's.

Rogue felt like ice went through her veins and complied to Renegade's will. She felt like a scolded child.

"Listen to them closely." Renegade hissed.

Rouge was confused until she realized that Renegade wanted her to listen to the conversation that the hunter's were having. She focused on their words.

"I can't wait! I'm betting my money on the big tank of a mutie."

"Are you kidding? I betted mine on the Marvel Girl. She's tough as nails. I'd do her if she wasn't a freak of nature."

The conversation trailed off until she couldn't hear anymore. The train car doors closed and that was Rogue's cue to go over to them.

"Pietro? Wanda?" Rouge said as she walked over a few people to get to the twin mutants.

"Rogue? What are you doing here?" Pietro said harshly.

"I got captured too. How's Wanda?" Rogue said as she kneeled down and checked Wanda's pulse to be sure that she's still alive.

"They had the Brotherhood cornered. The others got away, but they got us." Pietro said as he clawed at the black collar on his neck.

"I wouldn't mess with your collar if I were you." Rogue warned.

"Why?" He asked titling his head like a lost puppy.

"You can't use your powers, can ya?" Rogue asked as She sat Wanda up against the walls of the cramped train.

"No. When I try I get shocked. What the hell are these things?" Pietro said trying to tamper with the collar only to let out a yelp when he got shocked.

"Power inhibiters." Rogue heard Renegade behind her.

Rogue looked up at Renegade. Her stance suggested something of authority.

"Inhibitors? Dad said something about that." Pietro scrunched his face trying to remember something hid father said.

"You mean…these collars can turn off our powers?" Rouge said as she took off her glove and stared at her hand.

"In a sense. For me, the collar only stops my shadow manipulation. But it doesn't stop me from seeing the future…" Renegade said as she kneeled down by Wanda and placed her hand on the black and red haired goth girl.

"Wait, you can see the future?" Pietro said happily. "I don't see us getting out of here anytime soon, kid." She said answering his unspoken question.

Then Pietro spoke, "You know… looking at you and Rogue…you look similar. I mean Rogue has the skunk look with her bangs and everything, but you have white stripes going through most of your hair like highlights. Hey Rogue, is she your mom?" Pietro asked as he observed the two woman.

Rogue looked at Renegade for a reaction, and spoke, "Why do you think that? Just because we have white stripes in our hair doesn't mean we are related in any way." Rogue said as she crossed her arms.

Renegade wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were turning gold as she placed her ear to Wanda's chest and listened intently.

"Is this girl your sister?" Renegade asked.

Pietro nodded.

"Yeah why?" He asked.

"Because whatever those hunters drugged her with, they used too much. They overdosed her." Renegade said grimly. Rogue's eyes widened. She hoped that Wanda isn't dead. Back in Bayville they would meet up in a café, sometimes and just talk about stuff.

"What? You mean she's…" Rogue couldn't finish the sentence.

"No, nom she's still alive…for now at least. What are her powers?" Renegade said looking at Pietro.

He looked stone cold afraid.

"Pr-probability…" He stuttered out.

Was his sister dying? He didn't want his sister to die…they just barely starting to get along…somewhat.

"She can manipulate probability? That's good. Her powers may be 'off' for the moment, but the second those collars are off, we have to wake her up and hope for the best that she can survive the overdose." Renegade said as she frowned.

Her eyes were turning a bright gold and she was gritting her teeth.

"Listen to me. The both of you. We are going somewhere that is very dangerous. I don't know if we can all get out alive." Renegade said as she sat back on her legs.

"What do you mean?" Rogue asked.

Silence penetrated the train as if everyone on board was listening in.

"The hunters are taking us somewhere where it's not going to be easy. You've heard of dog fighting rings right?" Renegade said as she clenched her fists.

"Yeah…why?" Rogue asked confused.

"We are the dogs. The hunters are taking us to a places that's out of the way. They want mutants fighting mutants…and it's a fight to the death." Renegade said as she stood up with cold eyes.

"A fight to the death…they want us to fight to the death?" Pietro asked.

"What better way to get rid of mutants then to pit them against each other and have them kill each other." Renegade said as he eyes bled back to blue.

"They can't do that!" Rogue shouted.

"They can and they are getting away with it. Not unless the local law enforcement can stop it." Renegade said.

Rogue could feel fear shooting through her heart.

"Fighting…to the death?" She thought shakily.

She felt empty. Renegade spoke no more as she kept monitoring Wanda's health. Pietro was silent for once and Rogue…Rogue hoped that the Professor will find them soon.

* * *

Blaze was currently in the danger room. It had been two days since his wife and Rogue had been taken. He should have known that Rogue would follow them. He even felt her life force when he entered the backyard. He shook his head and thought to himself that she was too much like his wife. Headstrong, stubborn and bound to get into trouble. He wasn't too surprised when he saw her back at the bunker. He could have sworn that Rouge was a twin for his wife. If not more so.

He closed his eyes and opened a door in his mind. The door labeled, _"Inferno"_. He opened his eyes and his emerald green eyes suddenly flared into white as blue flames surrounded him. He heard the danger room doors open and he turned to see who entered. It was Scarlett. She had a look on her face that meant murder.

"You…you let Hanna be captured!" She shouted as she took out her telescopic staff (That she decided to have shipped to her from her family) and charged.

Blaze lifted his arms up and a wall of blue fire was blocking her from attacking, but that didn't stop her from using her staff to launch herself up into the air flying high, twirling her staff to gain air and slammed it down onto Blaze's arms. He knew she would do that so he took advantage of her being close to him and kicked her in the stomach sending her flying back. She backflipped a few times before she landed on her feet. She then reached into her form fitting half-duster and took out a few nails.

"A bit over kill, Spade?" Blaze shouted at her. Spade's ruby eyes glowed dangerously.

"You left Renegade to die!" She shouted as she threw the nails and they aimed straight and true.

Blaze quickly opened another door in his mind and brought out _'Connie'_ . The nails went right through him and exploded in the background.

"Really?" Blaze muttered as he put Connie away and brought out _"Henry"_. Blaze's eyes turned into a bright blue color and electricity sparked around him. He lifted his gloved hand and formed an electrical ball and threw it at her. She dodged all his attacks expertly. Flipping, turning, and jumping all over the place.

* * *

While Spade and Blaze were fighting each other, up in the viewing room, the Senior X-Men were watching the fight with great interest and slight fear.

"We have to, like, stop them before they kill each other!" Kitty said horrified.

The other X-Men nodded or muttered an agreement. Azazel just smiled and chuckled. It was normal for Blaze and Spade to be fighting each other when Renegade is gone. But the fact of the matter is, Renegade and Rogue had been taken away. It was best for both Blaze and Spade to fight each other before formulating a plan to rescue them.

"You t'ink dis is funny, homme?" Remy sneered at the red skinned mutant.

"Hilarious." Azazel deadpanned.

Remy clenched his fists. He knew Rogue was up to something when he saw her run out the back door not long after Blaze and Renegade left to go to the crime scene. He should have stopped her.

"Spade and Blaze are Thief and Assassin. Best to fight and steam letting off before we take plan of action." Azazel said as he winced at Spade roadhouse kicking Blaze in the head and sending him flying into the wall.

Spade was defiantly pissed off. Who could blame her? Renegade and Spade were partners in crime, sisters, and best friends. They've been together for as long as Azazel had known them. When Blaze came into the picture, Spade was jealous that her 'sister' was with him more than her. Azazel thought it a funny game of back and forth rivalry.

"So we let them fight to the death? Sounds harsh." Scott said as he winced when Blaze pulled a punch on Spade and nailed her in the ribcage.

"Not harsh, Scott. For as long as I have know The Elite, they have ways of dealing with things. I remember when Hanna returned to the Institute with Spade, Blaze and Azazel in tow, it was an interesting experience." Storm said as she observed Blaze put a fist to his mouth and blew hard. Blue fire spouted out of his mouth and surrounded Spade. Her eyes were glowing red and the kinetic energy that surrounded her glowed a deep bloody red.

"This is how they deal with problems. Now, Rogue is with Renegade. We know that she is safe." Azazel said as he turned around and faced the young X-Men.

"Stripes and Tiger can handle themselves. They know how to fight and defend." Wolverine said as he took an unlit cigar and put it in his mouth.

"That may be true, but since their capture, I haven't been able to pinpoint their whereabouts. I'm afraid that we only have Blaze to help us." Xavier said as he templed his hands.

"How can he help us? He couldn't stop Rouge and Renegade from bein' captured." Remy said angrily.

"Blaze was caught off guard. He was lucky he even got out the way he did. The men that I saw ran off as soon as I arrived. I couldn't go after them. Rogue and Renegade were already gone." Azazel pointed out.

"How can Blaze help us find Rogue?" Nightcrawler asked.

Azazel chuckled secretly.

"If you haven't figured it out now, I wouldn't blame you. Blaze is secretive about his powers." Azazel said as he frowned at the two mutants fighting.

He better intervene before Blaze or Spade does something stupid.

"What are his powers?" Hank asked interested.

Since the Elite had come to the Instutute, he had been keeping an eye out on their powers. Out of the four, Blaze was the only one who kept his powers a secret. But from what it looks like…Blaze has almost every power Hank could think of.

"That is not my place to tell. He will tell you." Azazel said as he prepared himself to teleport between the two mutants.

"Yeah, you better break up the fight before they really get into it." Wolverine said as he looked down from the glass. Spade was bleeding from the arm and Blaze had an open wound on his check.

"I might as well." Azazel said as he 'bamfed' away.

* * *

Azazel 'bamfed' between the two fighting mutants and looked at them frowning. Spade's eyes were still glowing and she had a jack of spades in her hand glowing violently. Blaze's demeanor was slightly animalistic as he panted harshly. His hands were twitching with anticipation.

"Enough! Both of you!" Azazel shouted at them.

"Now…are you finished?" Azazel growled. Blaze clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. His cheek wound was steaming and healing up. Spade still glowered at Blaze but tossed the charged card behind her, making a 'Bang!'.

"Yeah, yeah. Now what the hell are we going to do?" Spade said in a thick french accent.

Blaze tilted his head from side to side, making it crack and he reached behind his neck and rubbed it as he approached Azazel.

"Xavier thinks you could find them." Azazel said as his tail twitched back and forth.

Blaze sighed. He knew exactly what Xavier was talking about. Spade chuckled at the tired face of the british blond.

"What's the matter, Blaze? Can't handle that kind of power?" Spade chided.

"You are bloody annoying, you know that?" Blaze said as he lit up a blue fireball in his left hand.

"Enough! If you keep this up, Renegade and Rogue will be dead before we get to them." Azazel scolded them like children.

Blaze extinguished the ball of flames in his palm and frowned.

"You honestly expect me to try it? The last time I used that kind of power was when we were taking on the Hellfire Club, and even then it was dangerous. I almost became blind!" Blaze hissed at Azazel.

"But you didn't." Scarlett said crossing her arms, wincing slightly as her arm was still bleeding, though not as much anymore.

"Enough. Blaze, Xavier can't pinpoint where Renegade and Rogue. They are 'blocked' from sight." Azazel said as he lead the two slightly injured people out of the Danger room... as they walked out, Blaze was taken by surprise as Gambit grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him into the wall.

"Well, aren't we a pissed off duckie." Blaze said as he slipped into his sarcastic nature.

"Why didn't yo' stop them!?" Gambit growled in his face. Blaze had an indifferent look in his eyes.

"You try taking on several men with knifes and guns. I may be an assassin, but even I know my limits. Plus, with limited ammo, I was outnumbered." Blaze said cooly.

"Y' powers. Why didn't you use y' powers?" Gambit ground out. Blaze laughed coldly.

"Trust me, I would have done everything to make sure the girls didn't get captured. Yes, it was my fault that I didn't sense then coming. If anything, I would have managed to get them out safe and sound. Unfortunately, getting stabbed in the gut, legs, and arm, I know I'm no use to the girls dead. You must be bloody bonkers to think that I could save them on sheer adrenaline alone. I don't have a healing factor like Wolverine's. If my head gets blown off, I don't regenerate." Blaze said as he clamped his hand down on Gambit's wrist and pulled on him, slamming him into the wall by him.

Blaze then twisted his arm to that Gambit couldn't get out of his hold.

"Now, are you going to drop this nonsense and help us, or are you going to act like a ninnie and pout and pine for the girl?" Blaze said referring to Rogue.

Gambit quit struggling and Blaze to that as a yes.

"Rule number one: Don't underestimate me." He said as he let Gambit go.

"Blaze." Blaze turned to the person who said his name. It was Storm.

"Can you find Renegade and Rogue?" She asked worriedly.

Blaze ran his thumb over his lips, finding that Spade had landed a punch on him. It was split and bleeding. He was going to have to ask Wolverine if he could absorb him in the near future.

"You may have to give me a few days, Charles." Blaze said as he shook his head, raising a hand to his temple and pushing away another copy of a mind back into it's proper room.

"We don' have a few days, homme. The girls could be dead by 'den." Gambit said glaring at the blond haired man.

"Rogue and Renegade are strong. Rogue has absorbtion, and Renegade can see the future and can control the shadows. They will be fine." Blaze said as he eyes flashed blue.

"If you want me to find them safely, I need to meditate." Blaze said as he passed the younger X-Men and headed toward the med bay.

"I do know one thing though..." He said as he paused in his footsteps and turned back slightly. His eyes were glowing an eerily sapphire blue.

"They are heading south." He said as he left the group.

Spade frowned and growled.

"_Un tel roi de drame._" She huffed.

"If they are heading south, can't we follow them?" Kitty asked.

Azazel shook his head.

"Nyet. We know not where they are or what their destination is. We cannot follow." Azazel said as he leaned against the cold metal wall, his tail flicking back in forth.

"You know, we don't even know what Blaze is planning on doing. But you two seem to know what he's doing. We have a right to know." Cyclops said with authority.

Spade looked at the young man incredulously, then a very devilish smile spread across her face.

Azazel's tail froze in mid-air and he glared at the sunglasses wearing kid.

"Oh-ho-ho. Did you hear that Azazel? The _enfant_ says that he has a right to know what is going on." Spade said as she chuckled. Azazel sneered showing his fangs.

"Really now, Xavier, did you tell these _enfants_ that The Elite isn't part of the X-Men?" Spade said as her eyes glowed dangerously; fingers twitching with kinetic energy.

"Scott, like Magneto, The Elite are separate from the X-Men. We are striving for the same goals, even though were take different paths. While I do understand the need to ask The Elite about their purpose here and such, I will do so in private. We don't need to force anything from them." Xavier said apologetically.

That did little to soothe Spade's anger.

"If you excuse me, I'm going to blows things up." Spade said as she turned on her heel and went to the elevator. When the doors closed, Azazel turned to the X-Men.

"You have nerve. Asking that we should tell you everything about us. There is something called 'Respect'. Learn it and maybe we may tell you more about us._ На данный момент, вы оскорбили меня и моих товарищей._" Azazel turned around and headed toward the gym. Kurt, curious about his father's doings, followed.

Scott was standing there in shock.

"Professor, We deserve what they know." He said to Xavier.

"For now Scott, we will wait until they are ready." Xavier stated and left to go to the Med bay where Blaze was.

He was curious about the British man's powers, for he never really went in depth about it. Xavier knew one thing though. Blaze was their chance to get back Renegade and Rogue.

* * *

Renegade was awake. It was late at night and she could tell that the moon was shining through the train cars wooden bars. Rogue was beside her, pressed against her to stay warm. Pietro and Wanda were also close up to Renegade. Wanda was still unconscious. Pietro was worried.

"Don't worry about your sister, Pietro. She will be fine." Renegade said as her eyes flashed gold.

"How do you know? Wanda could die for all I know!" Pietro glared at the older woman.

"Pietro, tha's enough. If Renegade said that she'll be fine, she'll be fine." Rogue said curling more into a ball to retain body heat.

"Seeing the future has it's perks...trust me, kiddo. When your sister wakes up, she'll be fine." Renegade said as she looked up blankly at the ceiling.

Rogue looked up at Renegade.

_"How can she be so calm?"_ She thought curiously.

_"Not tha' Ah don' mind having this collar on me, Ah actually feel normal again."_ Rogue thought as she tugged slightly at her collar.

_"Then again...Ah hate feelin' like a dog."_ She thought frowning.

She needed to get her mind off the fact that having a collar is a good thing.

"Renegade...these people really won't make us fight...right?" Rogue asked bitting her lip.

Renegade looked down at her.

"They will. It's not going to be pretty either. You either fight to the death or you die yourself." Renegade said sighing.

"It feels like I'm in a part of history though." Renegade said chuckling bitterly.

"What? History?" Rogue asked.

"Think back in World War II. The Jews were put on trains and headed to concentrations camps. Except, we are mutants that have been captured." Renegade shook her head smiling grimly.

"Don't I have a twisted mind?" Renegade said as she rand her hands through her hair.

Rogue paid attention to the older woman's hair.

"Renegade...how did you get the white stripes in your hair?" She asked.

Renegade paused in combing her hair through for a moment and then continued on.

"It's more genetic than anything else. But I was born with dark hair and when I was 20 years old, I jumped off a cliff escaping from some very unpleasant people. It was a stormy night. But somehow my power came to full fruition as I hit the waters below. All I remember is opening my eyes underwater and seeing the bright moon above me. Then Spade crashed through the waters to get to me." Renegade smiled slightly.

"You an' Spade seem to be good friends." Rogue said as she placed her chin on her knees.

When she saw Spade not to long ago, and noticing the similarities between her and Gambit, it was astounding. Spade was Gambit's mother. If that wasn't shocking, Rogue didn't know what is.

"Spade and I have been tight knit for a long time. In fact, if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be here today. She's a thief, through and through, but thieves are loyal to you if you do something for them. They will be forever in your debt." Renegade smiled, then she looked at Rogue.

"I'm pretty sure that you had done something for Gambit, don't think I haven't noticed that you hang out with him a lot back at the mansion." Renegade smiled knowingly.

Rogue forced herself not to blush.

"It's not like that. What'chu talking about?" Rogue huffed.

Renegade smiled and poked Rogue in the arm.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Renegade chuckled.

"Wanda!" Pietro shouted suddenly.

"Ugh, don't yell." the gothic girl said as she sat up painfully. Renegade was suddenly at Wanda's side and her doctor instincts kicked in.

"How are you feeling?" Renegade asked as she looked in the girl's eyes intently and prodded her with her hands to check if anything is broken.

"Sore. Where the hell am I?" Wanda said grumpily, then she spotted Rogue.

"Rogue? You are here?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah, I got captured too." Rogue said sullenly.

"You'll be fine. You woke up, just in time too." Renegade said as she felt the train starting to slow.

"We're stopping?" Pietro asked nervously.

"Unfortunately." Renegade said as she glared at the door.

"Stay close to me, no matter what. Understand?" Renegade said, as the residents of the train car woke up.

There were voices outside shouting and jeering.

"Alright muties! Get yer asses in gear and come out."

The doors open reveling men coming in and grabbing the nearest mutants and dragging them out. Renegade hooked her arm through Rogue's and Pietro and Wanda stood close to her. They complied meekly as their captors lead them out of the trains. They were surrounded by tall trees and foliage.

_"Damn."_ Renegade thought.

"Get moving!" A man said as he prodded Renegade with a cattle prod.

She complied. The young teens stuck close with her for fear that they would get shocked.

Rogue was, in short, scared. There was a building up a head that was shoddily built. It was fairly large. To the west of the shack-like building was some sort of coliseum. She could remember the words that Renegade told her.

_ "Have you heard of Dog Fighting rings? They are going to make us fight just like them."_

Rogue didn't want that. She refused to do anything like that. She moved closer to Renegade as they were herded into the rickety building. Some mutants tried to escape, but were quickly chased down and shocked with the cattle prods. Rogue was suddenly torn from Renegade's side and was pushed roughly into a cell. Renegade was pushed in a similar cell by her and Wanda and Pietro were pushed into the cell next to Renegade. Rogue could hear their captors snicker.

"Hey Marvel! Don't give the newbie a hard time in there. Save your energy for the next fight." The captors laughed at Rouge and left.

Rogue could hear shuffling behind her. She looked behind her and saw a woman. She looked a little more older than her. Her jeans were ripped, her shoes wear in somewhat good condition, and her shirt looked like it had blood on it. She had blonde hair that reached her shoulder blades and her bangs covered her eyes. Rouge felt on edge. She could feel an instinct in her to be wary around this woman.

"Rogue! Are you okay?" Renegade said from the other side of the thin wooden wall.

Rogue tried to find a crack and peered through it.

"Yeah, Ah'm fine. Just a little shaken." Rogue replied.

She was glad that she was only separated from Renegade by a thin wall.

"What about you?" Rouge asked.

"I'm fine." Renegade said.

Rogue's line of sight moved to the woman in the back of her cell.

"Do you have a cell mate?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, though he's very quiet. Rouge, be careful. Get some sleep tonight, okay?" Renegade said comfortingly.

Rogue nodded, though she would not have seen her. She moved over to the woman and kneeled by her.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

The woman looked up and Rogue almost gasped at the startling blue eyes that the woman had. They were sunken in and her face was a bit thin. She looked very weak.

"I'm fine, honey. Just really, really tired." She said as she winced moving over.

Rogue cautiously sat down and curled into a ball.

"How'd you get caught, Tiger?" The woman asked before she coughed a little.

"I was caught off guard before I was knocked out." She said a little guiltily.

"You came with that other woman right? Family?" The woman asked.

Rogue shook her head.

"She and Ah aren't related." Rogue said firmly.

The woman hummed weakly.

"I though I saw...oh well. The name's Carol Danvers." The woman said as she winced moving her head back against the cold metal wall. The woman had the same collar on her neck, but it was red instead of black like hers.

"Hope you know how to fight, Tiger...things are going to be hell from here on out." Carol said warningly before she nodded off to sleep.

Rogue shivered at the words. She could only hope that the professor could find them soon.

* * *

_**TAL21: **_Hey guys! It's been while since I updated. I've been working on **_Silver Heart _ **and _**To The Other Side** _ and so far my schedule has been hectic. From me taking care of my Mom because she got sick, and me getting sick myself, it's hard to get back to a story that I have worked on. But hey, i least i updated even though it was a short chapter this time. 5000 words isn't too bad. Anyways, I hope your New Years and Christmas was amazing. I got a PS3 (You can see where my time goes) and I've been playing **_Batman: Arkham_** series. And it's is FUN! As well as _**Assassin's Creed **_the first four. So, i've been preoccupied with work and video games. :) Anyways, i hope you liked this chapter.

Yeash, things are going to get tough from here on out. The Next Chapter will feature Renegade fighting a mutant and she would be getting a beat down before fighting back. Rouge on the other hand, let's just say that it won't be easy for her. And Miss Marvel Makes her appearance! Blaze will be using a power of Renegade's (You guys saw that coming), and Magneto makes a visit. Spade is NOT happy about that. Meanwhile, our shadowed villain behind the 'mutant' dog fights, will come to light (You guys already know who the guy is, if not, that's okay too.) XD. _**OPINIONS AND REVIEWS ARE MORE THAN WELCOM AND I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU GUYS! :D **_Now here we go for the _**S**__**hout Outs!**_:

_**Jay Eddon: **_Thank you for the support throughout _**NaNoWriMo. **_I really appreciate it and i hope to hear more from you! :D

_**Cascade of Dreams: **_Thank you for following this story. I hope you have been enjoying it! :D And _**X-Men: Evolution**_ has a unique style of writing and animation…though I wish they continued it. I really hoped that Gambit and Rogue ended up with each other. XD As for the Grammatical mistakes… I have been doing a new program called Pages and needless to say…i hate it. I'm planning on getting back Word Perfect as soon as possible. Or at least until my brother comes back home and installs it. XD Again, thank you for following! :D

_**2takuya: **_GAH! I keep spelling Rogue's name wrong! Ugh. I keep hearing variations of it and it's hard to switch from 'Rouge' to 'Rogue'. *FacePalm* I'll be fixing it anyways. Thanks for pointing it out!

_**TAL21:**_ Okay, that's all for tonight! I hope you liked this chapter and i can't wait to hear from you guys! :D Also, if you wan tot get other updates and such from me, go to my profile page and you will see my Youtube account there. You can see the writer behind the stories and i hope you like hearing from me! :D See you next chapter! :D

_**Question Time!: **_If you had the power to Re-Do the X-Men Movies, what would you change about it? I would re-do the first three, by giving Rogue a bit of back bone and Gambit would be there at the School, keeping Bobby away from the new girl, even though Rogue could clearly stand her ground. XD

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


End file.
